On Monday, Groove Networks will release version 3 of its powerful collaboration technology after several months of beta testing and ongoing refinements. As already reported, the new version is a major improvement over previous releases and realizes in good part many of the potentialities it had shown to possess in its former incarbations.

Relabelled appropriately as a Virtual Office (it was called Groove Workspace until now), Groove v.3 carries such a great number of useful improvements and innovations that it is not easy at all to summarize in a few words the many positive aspects of this collaboration tool.

Performance has been improved across all of Groove facilities and the user interface gets top honours for streamlining and simplifying the great number of tools and facilities in an orderly, intuitive and easy to access fashion.

Great new facilities like the integration into Windows Explorer facilitate File Sharing, the creation of discssion areas around documents and the effortless synchronization of files and folders across multiple machines used by the same person.

Improved performance, better usability, more enterprise integration and development options together with best-of-breed filke sharing and folder synchronization are the key new traits of this new fast growing whiz kid on our block.

Groove has also done in his homework right in keeping the customer and the press awake to its continuos evolution, and it has now starting to reap some of the positive fruits of such great work on many fronts.

There is nothing better than looking at some of the many excellent animated tutorials that Groove makes available to its future and existing customers, or than directly downloading a 60-day try-out release of Groove v.3 Monday, when it will become available.

Pricing for Groove v.3 increases by 20 percent price in the now called Virtual Office Professional Edition which will be priced at $179 per user. The Project Edition, which includes advanced project management capabilities will cost $229 per user. Pricing for the entry version of the suite, the File Sharing Edition (formerly Standard Edition), remains locked at $69 per user.

Here is what the press around the world is saying about the new version of Groove just about to be released.

For the close-up, detailed in-depth scan of the official new release, stay tuned right here, on Kolabora.com.

Groove touts performance, ComputerWorld

Groove Networks Releases New Workgroups Tool, InformationWeek

Groove Updates Product Name, Pricing, eWeek

Groove remodes its virtual office, c|net

Groove Custom Crafts New App, CRN

Groove Gears Up Virtual Office, CRN

CRN Interview: Ray Ozzie, CRN

Groove Renovates Virtual Office, TechWeb

Groove to Unveil Virtual Office 3.0, Instant Messaging Planet

Groove Updates Its Virtual Office, PC World

Groove touts performance in Updated Virtual Office, InfoWorld

Groove updates Virtual Office, Computerweekly.com

Groove Renovates Virtual Office, smallbizpipeline

Get Into the Virtual Office Groove, Small Business Computing.com

Groove to Unveil Virtual Office, internetnews.com