The Return of Producer for PowerPoint!

It's a pleasure to announce the return of a great tool for working with PowerPoint files, Microsoft Producer.

Originally created by the Microsoft Windows Media team, and available as a free download, Microsoft Producer allows you to take an existing presentation file, capture and synchronize video and audio narration, add additional media content, and produce a unified set of content ready for viewing in a browser on your corporate intranet or a generally accessible web server.

A powerful tool for e-learning, corporate communications, sales... many corporations and schools have been using Producer on a regular basis for many years.

It's been missing for a little bit...

The previous version of Producer had a few bugs, some adjustments that needed to be made for it to work with the new Office 2007 version of PowerPoint, as well as a couple of changes to fix incompatibilities with current browsers. But we're happy to say that today, right now, you can download the public beta of Microsoft Producer for Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007!  (Yes, that's a real mouthful, but the lawyers like it when we use the full name in print.)

For those not already familiar with the previous versions, you can use Producer 2007 to capture video, audio, and still images from a Web camera, a video camera  (digital or analog), or from your computer screen. You can then use the captured content in your Producer presentations. You can also use Producer to import existing Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, Windows Media files, still images, and HTML files, and then synchronize narrations with your video and PowerPoint presentations. You can then publish the presentation to an e-service provider, to a corporate intranet site, on a corporate network, or to the Web.

A couple of things to know

This new version of Producer supports PowerPoint 2007 and earlier versions of PowerPoint.  This is a compatibility upgrade and there aren't any new features. NOTE: Yes, this section has been updated from the original post.  There was some initial confusion about support for earlier versions of PowerPoint. 

And it's free!

So now you're wondering how you can join in with this beta and get yourself some of the new Producer goodness? 

Well, here you go.

How to access the Producer for PowerPoint 2007 beta:

1. Click here to jump to the Connect site or type http://www.connect.microsoft.com in your web browser.
2. Click Sign In. Enter your Windows Live ID and password, and click Sign In again.
   • If you don’t have a Windows Live ID, click here to sign up for one.
   • If you have not used the Connect site before, a registration screen will display. Click any of the Register links and enter the requested details.
3. Choose one of these options and follow the steps:
   • If this is your first time accessing the Connect site:
     • Click the Connection Directory tab, and then click Office in the Categories list in the left-hand navigation pane.
     • Scroll through the list of available Connections and locate the Producer for PowerPoint 2007 Beta. You may want to change the Sort By criteria to list by Connection Name (A-Z) to locate it more quickly.
     • When you have found the link for the Producer beta, click the Apply Now link on the right. Clicking this link will jump to the Producer 2007 beta site.
   • If you are returning to the Connect site
     • Click the Your Dashboard tab, locate the link for the Producer for PowerPoint 2007 Beta site, and click it.
4. In the Producer for PowerPoint 2007 Beta site:
   • Review the FAQs and Links on the site for helpful information about Producer and this beta.
   • Click the Downloads link in the left-hand navigation pane to download and install Producer 2007.
   • Click the Feedback link in the left-hand navigation pane to report any issues and provide feedback to Microsoft.

Feedback!

The Connect site will be used for managing all instructions, downloads, and bug reporting for Producer.  While we're planning additional blog postings about the product, we do direct you to that site for all general communications about the product.  There's a lot of information there now, including a list of frequently asked questions.

Patience is a very appreciated virtue

One final note to all the folks who have written or asked after the fate of Producer over the last few months.  Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.  We have a standard policy with respect to pre-announcing products, for the most part we won't discuss products under development, and it's terribly hard to keep quiet when have a fix is in the works.

Please remember that even though we don't make a lot of comments about future releases, we're always listening.  And working.

-Ric

Ric Bretschneider
June 5, 2008