Leaked Microsoft roadmap hints at 2013 release for Office 15

Microsoft's product roadmap has apparently been leaked, providing an indication of when the next iterations of Office, Exchange, Internet Explorer and Windows Phone are likely to be released.

Maarten Visser, CEO of startup firm MeeTroo posted links to the roadmap on his Twitter account after Microsoft emailed partners a PDF of it.

The Microsoft roadmap suggests Office 15, SharePoint 15 and Exchange 15 will be released during the early part of 2013, so manufacturers can expect to get the software at the end of this year.

Internet Explorer 10 is pegged for general release during mid-2012, according to a second roadmap. This is likely to debut with the worldwide launch of Windows 8, but it is unknown at this time whether it will be available for Windows 7.

On the mobile front, Microsoft rather coyly indicated that "future investments" for the Windows Phone platform will be generally available during 2012. It is thought this could be a reference to the forthcoming "Apollo" update, which may be called Windows Phone 8.

Unfortunately, there was no mention of when the Windows 8 operating system will be generally available, but this is expected to show up in the second half of 2012.

Microsoft has not confirmed any of the timelines, but stressed they are subject to change.

"We have not publicly released any information on our product release timelines, and we would caution anyone on relying on unofficial materials, since information is always subject to change," the firm said in a statement.

"As always, we are hard at work on future versions of Office products and services, but we don't have any details to share at this time."