Microsoft Office 2013: Next generation Office suite.

The Good Old MS Office is done and done.

Welcome to Office 2013, Microsoft’s new age Office suite.

Welcome to Nxt-Gen office. 

With Windows 8 almost here, it was inevitable that Microsoft would refresh its Office suite of productivity to reflect the style of its new OS.

Microsoft has done just that. 

Yes, Microsoft Office 2013 is officially relived along with a new free Consumer Preview available for download.

Touch for good!

This new  Office suite is to be launch with Windows 8, hence Office 2013 has been designed with touch-based devices in mind, i.e., it will work well on tablets, smart phones, and touch screen PCs.

And, the standard mouse and keyboard-operated PCs aren’t forgotten either.

But the downside is that
 those people using Windows XP or Vista (people still using Vista? No!) will not be able to upgrade to Office 2013. So they have to upgrade to Windows 7 or the coming Windows 8 versions of the OS to using this new Office.

As said earlier, Microsoft has designed the software to work smoothly with the latest PCs using Windows 7 and Windows 8, leaving older machines in the dust.

Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer claims that the new software “unlocks modern situations scenarios in reading, note-taking, meetings and communications and will be delivered to subscribers through a cloud service that is always up to date”

Exciting times ahead!

When Microsoft talks about social in Office, it’s talking Skype and social networking. Skype is compatible with the software in various aspects, and thanks to Microsoft’s purchase of Yammer, it will be able to offer social networking features for businesses, combined with the SharePoint software.

Documents will be automatically saved online to the cloud using Microsoft’s SkyDrive service, and can also be picked up on another Windows 7 or 8 machines by signing in to your Microsoft account. Stylus support has been touted for touch screen machines, allowing the user to touch down notes and even handwrite an email.

A full description of packages and prices will be announced later in the year, presumably alongside the launch of Windows 8. Steve Ballmer did however announce three packages, all of which will include new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access. These packages will be accessible from up to five PCs, Macs, or mobile devices.

New look!

The packages are Office 365 Home Premium, Office 365 Small Business Premium, and Office 365 ProPlus. Each package is targeted towards a specific type of user, with the Home Premium pack offering an extra 20GB of SkyDrive cloud storage and 60 Skype minutes per month, and the Small Business Premium pack giving business grade email and HD web conferencing.

If you want to give Office 2013 a nice try right now on your Windows 7 machine, just go to office.com/preview to download and try the Consumer Preview.

Let us know your experience of the new office on our comments below or in Twitter @Techstrip or  in Facebook page.