Just like with Windows 8 the Microsoft Office Team has released a free Preview of the coming Office 2013. This gives us all a change to see what Microsoft is up to when it comes to the next generation of Office. I have installed Office 2013 on my Windows 8 Preview and tested out some of the stuff that I care about. Be aware that Office 2013 will not run on Windows XP and Windows Vista.
What is new in Office 2013?
A lot of thing has changed in Office 2013, but one of the things Microsoft have had focus on is online experiences. The product is highly integrated with Skype and SkyDrive and you will get additional 20 GB of SkyDrive online storage to store and share your documents. Microsoft has also been focusing on being available on multiple platforms with makes great sense with the upcoming Windows Phone 8 and Microsoft Surface.
Another feature I like is inline weather forecast in the calendar:
Official Promotion Video for Office 2013 Preview
You might also want to see the official promotion video from Microsoft below: httpv://youtu.be/J-3uK2bRNnE
System Requirements for Office 2013 Preview
| Component | Office 2013 Preview Requirements |
|---|---|
| CPU | 1 gigahertz (Ghz) or faster x86- or x64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set |
| Memory | 1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32 bit); 2 gigabytes (GB) RAM (64 bit) |
| Hard Disk | 3.0 gigabytes (GB) available |
| Display | Graphics hardware acceleration requires a DirectX10 graphics card and 1024 x 576 resolution |
| Operating System | Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012 |
| Browser | Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10; Mozilla Firefox 10.x or a later version; Apple Safari 5; or Google Chrome 17.x. |
| .NET version | 3.5, 4.0, or 4.5 |
Try out Office 2003 Preview yourself
Download Office 2013 Preview
I would love to hear what you think about Office 2013 so far. What do you think is the coolest new feature in Office 2013? Please drop me a comment below.
Hi Thomas, This looks great. What is the Preview part of the download? Do you get it for 30 days or are there limited features? I’d love to get Office for free, but don’t want to get hooked and then have to pay hundreds of dollars for it.
Great review!
Hi Carolyn
I don’t think that there are any limits in terms of available features, but of cause it will only work in a limited period of time I guess. When the final version hits the streets it will for sure be shut down. When you sign up you can install it on 5 different computers to test it and give Microsoft feedback.
More information here: http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/en/office-365-home-premium
Microsoft office is a need of everyone who works in computer. It’s good to hear that Microsoft Office gives it’s preview. Waiting for launching of MS office. I think it also going to rock 🙂
Hi Ayesha
I think that it is great that we get the chance to test-run both Windows 8 and Office 2013 and send back feedback about things we like and dislike. I am sure that it will only make the final product better.
So true!! It seems too good to see both Windows 8 and Office together.
Dude, actually I am waiting for this new version of microsoft. So excited to use them, but still waiting for more review if its really free from defect and everything and then I will switch. Thanks 🙂
Hi ellaine
It is a preview version, so there might still be issues with this version, but so far I must admit that I am pretty impressed with what I have seen. I don’t use this version on my primary PC, but only in my test environment.
Will Microsoft Office 2013 come free on the Microsoft Surface RT tablet?Thanks in advance..
I doubt that, but I have heard rumors that it will be included in Windows Phone 8
Office 2013 will be included in windows surface RT. This is one of their selling points for RT.
Thank you for the information Jason. I was not aware of that. I think that the Windows Surface RT will be a pretty nice tablet.
The new microsoft office 2013 is really looking very awesome with some special features like skype, dizital note taking and other. The only sad part is that it is not supporting xp and vistas
I am not really surprised that Windows XP is no longer supported. Microsoft have tried for years to shutdown Windows XP for years, but there are still so many users on Windows XP that they have not yet been successful with that. I guess this is another attempt. After all Windows XP are almost 10 years old. Vista on the other site is a bit of a surprise for me, but I guess that Microsoft will not have the same problem to shutdown Vista support 😉
Whoa, this is really interesting. It is integrated with SkyDrive online storage with 20gb space. That’s amazing. Thank you for sharing.
-Adam
If you already have a SkyDrive account with 7 GB, you will actually get additional 20 GB. Office 2013 is strongly integrated with SkyDrive, giving you the possibility of always having access to your documents and settings wherever you are and on multiple platforms.
Hello Thomas, I would like to tell you that I recently purchased a new PC and was thinking to download Office 2010 but now I will go and try 2013 first, but seems like they skipped 2011 & 2013 version.
Nice Rajnish. Let me know what you think about it, once you have tried it out yourself.
I want to use office 13 package now. Thankss for sharing it………
Consumer previews are indeed great to get to know about the features and interface before buying. Will try it today, thanks
I am sure that you will like it.
What I’m looking forward to the most is the PDF editing options that will be visible in the new Office 2013 package. With so many people using Mac these days and prefers PDF this will be an ever welcomed feature.
PDF editing? I was not aware of that. It sounds pretty awesome. I will have to look in to that. Thanks for the info Anton 🙂
Hey THOMAS! it’s a shame that office 2013 does not work on windows XP, because I’m running on it. I know, it’s old and slow, but I got used to it and I have lots of programs that I don’t want to lose.
Many of the programs that works in Windows XP does actually also runs in Windows 7. Have you tried to run the Windows 7 Upgrade advisor on your Windows XP? It might give you an idea of how many issues there will be in an upgrade.
No Thomas, I haven’t. I didn’t even know what the software was until you told me to try it. Thank you for your reply, I will give it a go.
Thanks for this, however if one of the best features is the weather being handy, this seems a bit gimmicky! I do like the fact they’ve integrated it with cloud computing though
I agree. The weather feature, for me, will be very handy indeed! It may seem like a fairly small thing for most people but it’s the small things that count 🙂
good to know. I like using Microsoft office for my works. Easy to use and it has lots of tools.
It looks nice, but I’ll stick with my current Office version. Mainly because of the Windowx XP incompatibility – I didn’t know about that.
Too Funky on microsoft office 2013, I will install on my pc now.
thanks in advance for the great article. I suggest you all to visit this one also..
Microsoft Office 2013 – Features, Download Link
Hey Thomas,
I love your post. I’ve never got the chance to look at the ms office 2013 preview until just today. Oh, the requirements have gone heavier than the previous one.
I think that Microsoft office 2013 have some additional features that make it more interesting and usable.
I deeply appreciate and like the Idea of doc integration in SkyDrive, I’m the one who likes to do lots of experiment with my computer and I always end up crashing and wiping out my data.
My brother recommend Google Doc but I didn’t like that too much. I think I’m going to use Microsoft Office 2013 in fullest.
Any price related information or system requirements?
System requirements are stated in the post. Prices are not yet available as far as I know.
Thanks for your reply Thomas, system requirements are pretty impressive, not like a new games , like 1 GB Graphic card, 4 GB RAM, 25 GB Hard Disk.
With this system requirements a mid range of Desktop and laptop can also efficiently run Windows 8.
It will also be a Good sale!
Microsoft office 2013 have many advance feature which is very nice but there have a problem it can not be run on Windows XP and Vista which is not good for Microsoft.
I guess that Microsoft want people to switch to Windows 7 and Windows 8 and this might be just another way to get people to make the move.
Hi, Thomas
I love using Microsoft Office products, but haven’t gotten a chance to try Microsoft Office 2013 yet.
Looks like it’s got several new features. I just upgraded to Microsoft 2010 last year, so I’m probably going to wait before upgrading to Microsoft 2013, but it certainly looks like a great product. Thanks for sharing this!!
See you soon, and take care.
Allyson
Hi Allyson
I am also still using Office 2010 on my main computer. I just find it interesting to see what plans Microsoft has for the future. Hope to see you back soon 🙂
WOOHOO! Super exciting! Can’t believe everything new from Microsoft! =) And of course, can’t wait to try out this new Office package! Thanks for the update, Thomas!
Hi Samantha
It really does look like a very interesting year from Microsoft with Office 2013, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and Windows Surface. I am so looking forward to get my hands on all the new technology.
wow! its a very interesting new that microsoft released their new office update. I’ll try out soon.
Microsoft Office 2013. Is it difficult to use ? I use office 2010.
It is much similar to Office 2010 I think.
Is seems that MS Office keeps getting more and more complicated every time they release a new version.
A lot of people have a difficulty adjusting to MS 2003 interface to MS 2010. Now that 2013 will be released I guess its a new challenge for the many.
Hi Jeff
Microsoft always tries to make improvements and sometimes they make some big changes that frustrate many users. Introducing the ribbon interface instead of the old menu system for sure frustrated a lot of people, but if you are used to Office 2007 or 2010 I think the switch to Office 2013 will be easy.
I’m using the 2010. And in my opinion, I like the 2010 interface compared to the 2007. I don’t know why people are having a problem when it’s much easier to navigate. Perhaps they need more time to tinker around the software, than just using it for typing. 🙂
How about you? Are you a fan of the new interface Thomas?
I’m exited to upgrade to the new OS version. I also heard that it’s capable of connecting to the cloud. But I do not have much details about it yet.
Hi Jeff
I took me a while to get use to the new interface, but now I like it and can see the improvement over the old interface. Office 2013 should have close integration with SkyDrive. I have read that you should be able to save your Office settings on SkyDrive. In that way you will have the same Office settings on all your computers.
Great article Thomas. Once again Microsoft is revolutionizing modern day businesses with their Office software. I think that Microsoft office plays a very strong and positive role in their reputation. What do you think? Also, just like to point out I love your theme 🙂
Wow, definitely looking great. I tend to use outdated versions of especially office because i quickly relate to one GUI, and changing all the time does no good. I will probably give it a try like always, but my office 2010 version is hard to beat!
Looking forward though.
Hi Jacob
I think that you will find the Office 2013 GUI very similar to Office 2010. I don’t think that they have made any major changes there. Give it a try
office 2013 seems very attractive and i think features of version of office will also be exciting. Recently i download the free 3 month trial version of windows 8 , it also looks so attractive and just waiting to see windows 8 with office 2013 together.
I am sure that Windows 8 with Office 2013 are a perfect match.
Thomas do you have any information that when windows 8 is going to launch and when we will be able to download it
Hi
Windows 8 has already been released to manufactories. You can download a 90 days trial version here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/hh699156 I just installed it in a test inviroment yesterday 🙂
Thanks Thomas for providing the downloading link.
It’s awsome! I’ve installed it right now and I like it 🙂
i installed office 2012 on my pc and really it is very attractive and slick. Just waiting to install windows 8 too
I hope you mean Office 2013. Otherwise I have missed something 😉
It seems like Office 2013 will offer the best features that could help us in our daily lives. I would love to check the demo and see the greatest feature that will suit my need.
Just wondering, do you think they\’ll put out a university version of this, like they have for Office 2010? and b
I am sure that they will have some kind of Home & Student edition with Office 2013 too. I don’t think that there is any information about editions and prices yet.
Office 2013 is going to hit the start of winters with a bang, even though release date is not conformed yet. Cloud integration, flash-fill are some new exciting features in this new product.
For more information about the new features in Office 2013, refer to this article I found recently on internet. Really worth for information:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Whats-New-in-Office-2013?&id=7200978
Hi Christa
It is going to an exciting next couple of month to follow the release of Windows 8, Office 2012, Windows Surface and Windows Phone 8.
Hi Thomas,
Indeed it will be.
I guess, the upcoming Quarter should officially be named as Q-Windows or Q-Microsoft.
I have a question that is it preloaded on microsoft new surface tablests? Plz do reply?
I believe there will be some kind of Office version preloaded to the Microsoft Surface:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/surface-pre-launch-woes-stripped-down-office-2013-and-oem-warnings/
Office 2013 is really great and its actual changed the user experience. Do you know about the price and when it will expire ??
I would think that the Preview already have expired or will do very soon. Regarding prices you might be able to find some here: http://woleademola.wordpress.com/2012/12/18/microsoft-office-2013-release-date-prices-detailed-preview-version-now-available-to-download-video/
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In my opinion, the feature help us store on the Drive cloud and share is the coolest thing. With that feature, a small business can save money (storage) and time.
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