Microsoft Office 2010 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Microsoft Office 2010

Microsoft Office 2010 in Windows Vista—clockwise from top left: Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint; these programs constitute the Home and Student edition.
Developer(s)	Microsoft
Initial release	June 15, 2010; 15 years ago (2010-06-15)
Last release	Service Pack 2 (14.0.7268.5000) / April 15, 2021; 4 years ago (2021-04-15)
Operating system	32-bit only: Windows XP SP3 Windows Server 2003 SP2 32/64-bit: Windows Vista SP1 or later Windows Server 2008 Windows 7 Windows Server 2008 R2 Windows 8 Windows Server 2012 Windows 8.1 Windows Server 2012 R2 Windows 10 until version 1809 Windows Server 2016
Platform	IA-32 and x64
Predecessor	Microsoft Office 2007 (2007)
Successor	Microsoft Office 2013 (2013)
Available in	40 languages
List of languages English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian
Type	Office suite
License	Trialware

Microsoft Office 2010 (also known as Office 14) was a popular version of Microsoft Office, a set of computer programs for doing work. Microsoft released it on June 15, 2010. It came after Microsoft Office 2007 and before Microsoft Office 2013. There was also a version for Apple computers called Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac.

Office 2010 brought many new features. It made it easier to work together on documents. It also improved how files were saved and how secure your work was. This version also introduced Office Online, which are free versions of programs like Word and Excel that you could use on the internet.

This was the first time Office was available in a 64-bit version, which can use more computer memory. It also required you to activate the product to use it. Office 2010 worked on many Windows versions, from Windows XP to Windows 10. It was the last Office version to support older systems like Windows XP and Windows Vista.

People generally liked Office 2010 a lot. They especially liked the new "Backstage view" and how they could customize the ribbon. Even though sales started a bit slow, Office 2010 became a big success for Microsoft. About 200 million copies were sold before it was stopped on January 31, 2013. Microsoft stopped providing full support for Office 2010 on October 13, 2015, and extended support ended on October 13, 2020.

How Office 2010 Was Made

Work on Office 2010 started in 2007, while Microsoft was still finishing Office 2007. Interestingly, they skipped the version number 13. This was because some people have a fear of the number 13, called triskaidekaphobia. So, Office 2010 was actually "Office 14."

Microsoft confirmed in April 2009 that Office 2010 would be ready in the first half of 2010. They showed a test version of the 64-bit edition in May 2009. Test versions, called "Technical Previews" and "Betas," were shared with testers and later with the public. This allowed people to try it out and give feedback before the final release.

The final version of Office 2010 was announced on April 15, 2010. It was first available to business customers on April 27, 2010. Then, it was released to everyone else on June 15, 2010.

Service Packs: Keeping Office Updated

Microsoft released two main updates for Office 2010, called service packs. These updates helped fix problems and improve the programs.

• Service Pack 1 (SP1): This update came out on June 27, 2011. It made Office 2010 more compatible with other programs, improved how fast it worked, and made it more secure. For example, in OneNote 2010, you could now open notebooks saved on OneDrive directly. Outlook 2010 also got support for Microsoft 365.
• Service Pack 2 (SP2): This update was released on July 16, 2013. It included all the fixes from SP1 and added more improvements. Microsoft said SP2 made Office 2010 work better with Internet Explorer 10, Office 2013, and Windows 8.

Cool New Features

Office 2010 brought many new and improved features to make your work easier and more fun.

User Interface: How It Looks and Feels

Office 2010 changed how the programs looked and how you interacted with them. It was designed to be more helpful for different types of users.

Backstage View: Your Document Command Center

The Info tab in the navigation pane of Backstage displaying a document overview alongside management tasks in Word 2010.

The "Backstage view" was a big new feature. It replaced the old Office menu from Office 2007. Think of it like the "behind the scenes" area for your documents. When you click the "File" tab, you go to Backstage. Here, you can easily save, open, print, and share your files. It shows you important information about your document, like who created it or if there are any hidden details.

For example, on the "Info" tab in Word, you can see details about your document before you share it. The "Print" tab lets you see how your document will look when printed, all in one place.

File Tab: Easy Access to Backstage

The round Office button from Office 2007 was replaced with a "File" tab in Office 2010. This tab looks like the other tabs in the ribbon, making it easier to find. When you click it, the Backstage view opens up. The File tab even changes color depending on the program you're using (like orange for Outlook).

Pasting Options Gallery: Smart Pasting

When you copy and paste things, Office 2010 gives you a new "pasting options gallery." This gallery shows you different ways to paste your content. You can see a "Live Preview" of how it will look before you even click! This makes it much easier to choose the right pasting option.

Ribbon Improvements: Make It Your Own

The ribbon, which holds all the commands, was made even better in Office 2010. Now, you can customize it! You can add your own tabs, rename groups, and even hide tabs you don't use. This means you can set up Office exactly how you like it.

Other Design Changes

• The main color scheme became silver, which was easier to read.
• All the program icons were redesigned to look fresh and modern.
• When you opened a program, a new animated splash screen appeared.
• OneNote and PowerPoint got tools to help you work with math equations.
• PowerPoint and Publisher added alignment guides to help you line up objects perfectly.

File Formats: Better Compatibility

Office 2010 improved how it worked with different file types. It supported the updated international standard for Office files (called OOXML). It also continued to support the OpenDocument Format (ODF), which is used by many other office programs.

Working Together: Document Co-authoring

One of the coolest new features was "co-authoring." This allowed multiple people to work on the same document at the same time! This worked for documents saved on SharePoint or OneDrive.

When several people opened the same document, a co-authoring session would start. In programs like Excel Web App and OneNote, changes would appear almost instantly. In PowerPoint and Word, you would save your changes to upload them. You could see who else was working on the document and even chat with them if you had a program like Skype for Business.

Installation and Setup

Office 2010 introduced a new way to install programs called "Click-to-Run." This method downloaded parts of the program in the background, so you could start using it faster.

Microsoft also offered "Product Key Cards." These allowed you to buy a license for Office at a lower cost if it was already installed on your new computer.

Security: Keeping Your Files Safe

Office 2010 added important security features to protect you from harmful files.

Office File Validation: Checking Your Files

This feature checked if your old Office files (like Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations) were safe. If a file looked suspicious, it would open in "Protected View."

Protected View: A Safe Sandbox

"Protected View" is like a safe sandbox for your documents. If you open a file from the internet or an email, or if it seems unsafe, it opens in this special mode. In Protected View, you can look at the document, copy text, but you can't edit, save, or print it. This stops any harmful parts of the file from affecting your computer. You can choose to "Enable Editing" if you trust the file.

Trusted Documents: Files You Trust

Office 2010 let you mark certain documents as "trusted." This means they will always open with all features enabled, without going into Protected View. This is useful for files you use often and know are safe.

Other Security Features

• Better support for Data Execution Prevention (DEP), which helps stop harmful code.
• Improved ways to handle ActiveX controls, which are small programs that can run inside documents.
• Stronger encryption to keep your files private.

Graphics: Making Things Look Good

Office 2010 made it easier to work with images and graphics.

Artistic Effects: Turn Photos into Art

You could now add cool artistic effects to your pictures in Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word. Think of effects like glass, paint strokes, or pencil sketches!

Background Removal: Clean Up Your Photos

This new feature let you easily remove the background from images. You could select an image, and Office would help you choose which parts to keep and which to remove. This was great for making professional-looking documents.

Cropping Improvements: Better Photo Editing

Cropping photos became much easier. When you cropped, you could see the part that would be removed, and the part that would stay. You could also set specific "aspect ratios" (like 16:9 for widescreen) before cropping, which was very helpful.

Font Effects and Enhancements

Excel, PowerPoint, and Word added text effects like shadows, reflections, and glows. Publisher and Word also supported advanced font features like "ligatures" and "kerning" for a more professional look.

Hardware Acceleration: Faster Graphics

Office 2010 could use your computer's graphics card to make things run faster. This meant smoother animations in PowerPoint and quicker drawing in Excel charts.

Screenshot Capture: Grab What You See

You could now take screenshots directly within Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word. You could capture an entire open window or just a part of your screen and insert it right into your document. No need for separate screenshot tools!

SmartArt Improvements: Better Diagrams

SmartArt, which helps you create diagrams and charts, got many updates. There were new designs and easier ways to add and arrange text and images within your diagrams. You could also convert SmartArt into regular shapes or bulleted lists.

Accessibility: For Everyone

Office 2010 included features to make it easier for people with disabilities to use the programs.

Accessibility Checker: Make Documents Easy to Read

This tool in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word checked your documents for issues that might make them hard for visually impaired people to read. It would suggest ways to fix problems, like adding descriptions to images.

Language Preferences: Easy Language Switching

A new Language Preferences area in Backstage made it simple to change language settings, download more language packs, and even customize the language of tooltips.

Text-to-Speech Improvements: Hear Your Text

The "Mini Translator" allowed you to translate selected text in OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Word. It could also read the translated text aloud. This was helpful for learning new words or understanding content in different languages.

New Features in Specific Programs

• Word 2010:

* A new navigation pane made it easy to move around your document and rearrange pages by dragging headings. * Improved search that highlighted results.

• Excel 2010:

* A redesigned calculation engine made Excel faster. * New graphing features like "Sparklines" (tiny charts in cells) and "Slicers" (for quickly filtering data). * You could record macros for chart elements.

• PowerPoint 2010:

* A new "Reading View" let you see presentations in a window. * An "Animation Painter" allowed you to copy animations from one slide to another. * You could edit audio and video directly in your presentations, adding effects or trimming clips. * You could broadcast a slideshow online using a Microsoft account. * You could use your mouse as a laser pointer during presentations.

• OneNote 2010:

* A new "docked mode" let you take notes next to another program window. * A "notebook recycle bin" saved deleted notes for 60 days. * "Linked Notes" connected your notes to the source document or webpage. * Support for multi-touch gestures on touchscreens. * You could create Outlook tasks directly from OneNote.

• Outlook 2010:

* "Conversation View" grouped related emails together, making your inbox tidier. * "Meeting Suggestions" helped you find the best time for meetings by looking at everyone's calendars. * "Quick Steps" let you perform multiple actions with a single click. * Improved spell check in meeting requests and message subjects.

• Publisher 2010:

* A new "Page Navigation" pane showed thumbnails of all pages, making it easy to jump between them. * Live Preview effects for formatting.

• Access 2010:

* A "Navigation Form" interface made it easy to customize database elements. * You could share databases on the web using SharePoint.

Removed Features

Some features that were in older versions of Office were removed in Office 2010. This often happens when programs are updated, as some tools become less used or are replaced by newer, better ones.

For example, the "Document Workspaces" feature was removed from the entire suite. In Word, the "AutoSummary" feature was taken out. In PowerPoint, you could no longer save a presentation as a web page directly. Outlook removed support for older Exchange servers and some specific photo resize options.

Different Versions of Office 2010

Office 2010 came in several different versions, or "editions," each with a different set of programs.

Comparison of Office 2010 Editions

Starter Edition: A Free Option

Office Starter 2010 was a free version of Office that came with ads. It included simpler versions of Excel and Word. This edition was often pre-installed on new Windows computers and replaced an older program called Microsoft Works. It was stopped in June 2012.

Office Starter 2010 also had a unique "To-Go Device Manager" feature. This allowed you to put Office on a USB flash drive and run it on other Windows computers without installing it.

Office Online: Web-Based Programs

Office Online is a collection of free, web-based versions of Excel, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Word. These versions have fewer features than the full desktop programs but are great for quick edits and sharing online. They were available to OneDrive users even before Office 2010 was fully released.

Office Mobile 2010: Office on Your Phone

Office Mobile 2010 was an update for Microsoft's mobile phones (Windows Mobile 6.5 devices). It was a free upgrade and brought new features like:

• Conversation View: Grouped related emails in Outlook Mobile.
• PowerPoint Streaming: Allowed you to stream presentations from a PC to your phone.
• Presentation Companion: Let you control a computer presentation from your phone.
• SharePoint Workspace Mobile 2010: Helped you sync documents from SharePoint to your phone.
• SmartArt Graphics: Could display SmartArt charts and graphics on your phone.
• Touch Optimizations: Made it easier to use Office with touchscreens.

System Requirements: What Your Computer Needed

To run Office 2010, your computer needed to meet certain requirements:

Images for kids

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  Microsoft Office 2010 programs: Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint.

See also

In Spanish: Microsoft Office 2010 para niños

• Microsoft Office for Mac 2011
• Comparison of office suites
• List of office suites