The word is out! On January 31, we published a post on the official Office blog where we layed out the future of InfoPath. I have been thinking about this for a while and am glad that the decision is there: “there will not be another version of the InfoPath desktop client or InfoPath Forms Services” (source: the Office blog post, see above).
I feel the functionalitity that InfoPath provided will find its way into other parts of the Office suite and SharePoint. Take Access for example: Access is much less a database program than it was before. If you now start a new database, the first question you get is to specify in which SQL Server the database should be created. The forms Access creates can now be published to SharePoint to facilitate easy data entry and editing into databases. InfoPath provided other features and challenges, and I am curious as to where the features will go. I am certain we will get rid of some of the challenges InfoPath has (XML forms anyone?).
So, bottom line: yes, “Partir cest mourir un peu”. It hurts to get rid of a product, but I think it is for the best; we get a better, clearer proposition and a rationalized product line up. All in all, less confusion, same or better functionality. What do you think?