Office 2013 (365?) Preview Now Available

Will be installing on a few machines to tonight and will give feedback. Looks like a pretty do overall product, The Verge, which isn't the most Microsoft friendly site didn't care much for the touch capabilities but that the collaboration capabilities were great.
 
Looks like they added

-Very deep integration in Sharepoint and MS Drive. (I wonder if APIs will be available to others like Dropbox, google, etc)
-Deeper integration into the Windows Live Accounts (like Windows 8)
-Collaboration tools I haven't really played with
-Refreshed UI, similar to Office 2010 but prettier and more touch friendly in some cases
 
ComputerBox34 said:
Looks like they added

-Very deep integration in Sharepoint and MS Drive. (I wonder if APIs will be available to others like Dropbox, google, etc)
-Deeper integration into the Windows Live Accounts (like Windows 8)
-Collaboration tools I haven't really played with
-Refreshed UI, similar to Office 2010 but prettier and more touch friendly in some cases
Click to expand...

I have hard time believing MS will allow third parties that compete with their cloud platform.

Might be handy for viewing documents I have my doubts it will be easy to do major revisioning on a Touch system with out a keyboard.
 
I will stick with my open office. :p
I do like how they are upgrading it to at least fit with Windows 8 and its new interface.
 
I am thinking Office 13 is going to be called Office 365. But, I am wondering if you can get Office 365 and not subscribe to the cloud services. I already have a free subscription of SkyDrive, and not expecting to pay monthly just to use this Office suite.

I hope there will still be a one-time fee like they've always done with their previous versions of Office. If there is a required, mandatory subscription, then I'll probably just stick to Office 2010.

Also, Office 13 Home and Student will be free for Windows RT-based devices.
 
octoberasian said:
I am thinking Office 13 is going to be called Office 365. But, I am wondering if you can get Office 365 and not subscribe to the cloud services. I already have a free subscription of SkyDrive, and not expecting to pay monthly just to use this Office suite.

I hope there will still be a one-time fee like they've always done with their previous versions of Office. If there is a required, mandatory subscription, then I'll probably just stick to Office 2010.

Also, Office 13 Home and Student will be free for Windows RT-based devices.
Click to expand...
MS is definitely trying to sell cloud space, however I don't think they'd be stupid enought ot require it.

I suspect that they will be changing up licensing though. Right now, a key is required to be entered and then activated. With this preview, it looks like they tie installs to your Live Account
 
I think I've seen this interface somewhere before.

Who thought it would be a good idea to create an all white interface with no-contrast? I feel like my eyes are being bleached.

Office is an application for people trying to get work done, not people trying to chat on social networks. Why is it saving to the cloud by default (this is a big no no for a lot of companies and creates extra work; especially healthcare providers and the like that have to comply with HIPPA)? Why doesn't Office 2013 work on Vista (it is identical to Windows 7 under the hood)?

Also, I see they've managed to bring the walled garden to Office as well. No thanks. Into the round file it goes, along with Windows 8.
 
Yes, if you sign into the cloud, which you don't have to, you default to cloud storage on a new document. Probably wouldn't be signing into cloud storage in a lot enterprises.

As for not being supported in Vista, that probably due to the touch enhancements, 7's multi-touch support is much better and at the OS level.
 
heatlesssun said:
Yes, if you sign into the cloud, which you don't have to, you default to cloud storage on a new document. Probably wouldn't be signing into cloud storage in a lot enterprises.

As for not being supported in Vista, that probably due to the touch enhancements, 7's multi-touch support is much better and at the OS level.
Click to expand...

Since the majority of users won't be using touch, it seems like it is simple enough to make it an optional dependency.

More than likely, it is planned obsolescence on the part of Microsoft (they've done this before; remember Halo 2?)/
 
In the live event, they showed Word had an inverted mode. Does anyone know if this is available throughout Office? I was hoping for an official dark theme like in Expression Blend/Visual Studio.
 
Ok, I would have to say Microsoft hit a homerun on this so far. The interface is clean compared to Office 2010 from what I've seen so far. It feels faster and smoother as well.

The installation is nearly hands free and painless, though I miss customizing the options and features of the installation.

If I am not locked-in or required to pay for a subscription, I'm definitely sold on this. I've been playing with this for the past half hour using the Office 2013 Home version and it is very well done. This is what I hoped Office 365 should have been when it was introduced initially. But, now the integration with the cloud services, Office 365, and Skydrive is very good.

This is going to give Google Docs, well now Google Drive, a run for its money. The only difference between GD and Office 2013/365 is that GD is free to use (for now I think), but Office 2013/365 offers a better collaborative tools, features and most importantly, it's Microsoft Office.
 
octoberasian said:
I must have missed it because when I downloaded the installer, it went from some introduction video to downloading and installing the Office applications.
Click to expand...

I downloaded the 64-bit version from TechNet, so I'm unsure if there's a difference.
 
There are two versions:
- Office 365, the version that automatically installs the Office applications included in the version along side your current Office installation. This is the one that is integrated with your Microsoft account/SkyDrive.
- Office 2013, the version that is available as a stand-alone installer. It can't be installed side-by-side, nor does it require a Microsoft account (I believe).
 
Snowknight26 said:
There are two versions:
- Office 365, the version that automatically installs the Office applications included in the version along side your current Office installation. This is the one that is integrated with your Microsoft account/SkyDrive.
- Office 2013, the version that is available as a stand-alone installer. It can't be installed side-by-side, nor does it require a Microsoft account (I believe).
Click to expand...
The Licensing for Office 2013 was done through my browser and it gave my account a maximum of 5 installs
 
ComputerBox34 said:
The Licensing for Office 2013 was done through my browser and it gave my account a maximum of 5 installs
Click to expand...

Interesting, when I check on MSDN, they list a key which I assumed would be for the install. Do you not need a key to install, you need it when you license through an MS account with a browser or something?
 
ND40oz said:
Interesting, when I check on MSDN, they list a key which I assumed would be for the install. Do you not need a key to install, you need it when you license through an MS account with a browser or something?
Click to expand...

The MSDN versions are the standalone versions that work and are licensed like standard shrink wrapped desktop apps. The Office 365 are subscription based and work on up to five computers.
 
heatlesssun said:
The MSDN versions are the standalone versions that work and are licensed like standard shrink wrapped desktop apps. The Office 365 are subscription based and work on up to five computers.
Click to expand...

Ok, so that post was refering to the 365 version and not the standalone. The post that it replied to threw me off since it talked about both the 365 and 2013 version and the reply stated the 2013 version.

I'll have to log onto my 365 test site and see what my options are there, thanks.
 
ND40oz said:
Ok, so that post was refering to the 365 version and not the standalone. The post that it replied to threw me off since it talked about both the 365 and 2013 version and the reply stated the 2013 version.

I'll have to log onto my 365 test site and see what my options are there, thanks.
Click to expand...

That's the one I'm looking for-- standalone version.

I'm guessing you have to be a TechNet subscriber to get the Office 2013 Preview standalone installer?

The reason I ask is because Microsoft only links to the Office 365 version and hasn't really explained the differences well on their blog.
 
octoberasian said:
That's the one I'm looking for-- standalone version.

I'm guessing you have to be a TechNet subscriber to get the Office 2013 Preview standalone installer?

The reason I ask is because Microsoft only links to the Office 365 version and hasn't really explained the differences well on their blog.
Click to expand...

It's on MSDN as well as Technet, limited to 1 key though for each version, x86 or x64. I can't find anything on the Office 365 downloads, so you must have to get that version through the preview links. The version on MSDN is Office Professional Plus 2013 Preview.
 
ND40oz said:
It's on MSDN as well as Technet, limited to 1 key though for each version, x86 or x64. I can't find anything on the Office 365 downloads, so you must have to get that version through the preview links. The version on MSDN is Office Professional Plus 2013 Preview.
Click to expand...

I see 2 keys available for it on TechNet (combined usage with x86 & x64).
 
octoberasian said:
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/24944...n_office_2013_for_windows_vista_xp/index.html

Office 2013 is not supported on Windows XP and Vista. Only "Windows 7, 8, 2008 R2 Server and 2012 Server" compatible.
Click to expand...

I haven't kept up with details here, so I may be asking a dumb question. Is Office 8 available only for 64-bit platforms? If yes, that would explain the lack of XP support.

Lack of Vista support is probably a "policy" decision, meaning that Microsoft wants to get people off Vista as fast as possible. :rolleyes:
 
x509 said:
I haven't kept up with details here, so I may be asking a dumb question. Is Office 8 available only for 64-bit platforms? If yes, that would explain the lack of XP support.

Lack of Vista support is probably a "policy" decision, meaning that Microsoft wants to get people off Vista as fast as possible. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Office 2013 still supports 32-bit, with the amount of legacy Office add ins 32-bit support isn't going away any time soon.

I also think there are technical reasons for lack of Vista support with the deep touch enhancements and new rendering model, it would have no doubt taken effort for Vista compatibility and at this point I imagine Microsoft just figured it wasn't worth supporting a legacy OS that's on the steep decline.
 
heatlesssun said:
Office 2013 still supports 32-bit, with the amount of legacy Office add ins 32-bit support isn't going away any time soon.

I also think there are technical reasons for lack of Vista support with the deep touch enhancements and new rendering model, it would have no doubt taken effort for Vista compatibility and at this point I imagine Microsoft just figured it wasn't worth supporting a legacy OS that's on the steep decline.
Click to expand...

I would rephrase that to say that "Microsoft just it wasn't worth supporting a legacy OS that they WANT TO BE on a steep decline.":D
 
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