The last time we got a new version of Microsoft Office for Windows was three years ago, when the software giant released Office 2010. It was about time for a new version of Office, and just ahead of the Windows 8 release, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the customer preview of ‘The New Microsoft Office’.
The New Office version features a intuitive design with full touch-screen support, capable of working on the Windows 8 OS, with tablets, regular keyboard-and-mouse desktop setups, and even smartphones. Not only this, you can access the new Office, from anywhere and on any device with ‘cloud integration’.
Here are a few features on The New Microsoft Office that got our attention –
Skype Integration
The new Office comes with newly purchased VoIP product, Skype. The video chat application will be powered by Lync, which won’t be phased out as the software giant works to integrate Skype into its product lines.
People Card
The new Office integrates social networking websites like Facebook and LinkedIn with People Card. Although Twitter is not yet integrated, we would love to see that happen as it would make it much more valuable. The People Card includes presence information complete with pictures, status updates, contact information and activity feeds.
SkyDrive
Okay, we know that cloud integration is not new, especially with iCloud and Google Drive already out there. But this is a first for Microsoft. The new Office saves documents to SkyDrive by default, so your content is always available across your tablet, PC and phone and are available offline.
But one thing that did bother us was, that the new Office will not work with earlier edition of Windows OS such as XP and Vista. The new version of Office will only be compatible on Windows 7 and Windows 8 platform. This makes the earlier version of Office, i.e. Microsoft Office 2010, the last version capable of working on XP and Vista platforms.
Wanna try The New Office? Well, here is the link to the Consumer Preview
