Subscribers to Microsoft Corp.'s developer and IT professional services are first in line to get Office 2010, which will be released to MSDN and TechNet on Thursday, the company has confirmed.

MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) and TechNet subscribers can download the production versions of Office 2010 starting April 22, five days before volume license customers with Software Assurance will be able to obtain the new application suite.

Last Friday, Microsoft announced that Office 2010 had reached the RTM, or release to manufacturing, milestone, meaning that the company had declared the code completed and was set to ship it to computer makers and media duplicators.

Office 2010 will hit U.S. retail in June; Microsoft has not yet set a specific on-sale date. Users can now place pre-order three editions -- Home and Student 2010, Home and Business 2010, and Professional 2010 -- at the company's online store, as well at some third-party outlets, including Amazon.com.

Full story: Computerworld