A preview of Microsoft Office 2013
I recently had the pleasure of trying out the preview release of Microsoft Office 2013 suite. The program is much like its operating system counterparts Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8.
The program is touch screen ready and cloud ready. It also spots the Metro styled like look which is the new look the Microsoft is using.
What’s new in Microsoft Office 2013?
There are several features that you can look out for in this version of office. The first is obviously that it is made for touch and portable systems. The next thing that comes to mind is its ‘inking’ ability; write notes like you were using a pen and paper. The Office 2013 uses a stylus to convert things like handwritten emails to text.
Lync is another feature that Microsoft has introduced. This is basically a unified communications platform integrated into office. It gives the user the ability to send instant messages (IM), audio, video and conferencing into one application. You can also share documents with contacts by simply dragging and dropping files.
All files are by default set to save on Microsoft’s cloud storage SkyDrive. This gives you the ability to access your content regardless of location – of course, you will need internet access.
Then you have the people card which becomes more social with contacts. It allows to see your contacts location as well as social updates on Facebook and Linkedin.
There will also be 3 subscription services available for users. The Office 365 Home Premium targets the family and users with minimal needs. It comes with 20GB of storage on SkyDrive and an hour of Skype world minutes per month.
The next on offer is the Office 365 Small Business Premium which, as the name suggests, is for small business and comes with business-grade emails, calendars, web tools and HD web conferencing.
But if you want more, then the Office 365 ProPlus is available at your disposal and comes with advanced cloud features.
The best feature is the support for Open Document Formats (ODF) which is a greate news for LibreOffice and OpenOffice backers.
The preview release of Microsoft Office 2013 can be downloaded at Microsoft.com
Unfortunately, Microsoft has not come out with a pricing for this product. However, PC World has ball parked the figure around US$150 based on the previously suite for home and student users. They say this is a pretty good estimate for non-356 subscribers.
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