Microsoft unveils new cloud Office products

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: Software giant Microsoft unveiled new Office products - Office 2013 and Office 365, aiming at cloud and tablet users.

These releases work with touch, stylus, mouse and keyboard across new Windows devices, including tablets.

The new Office is social; has Yammer incorporated in it, can be used for reading, note-taking with OneNote, meetings with Lync and communications with Skype.

OneNote and Lync represent the first new Windows 8 style applications for Office meant for tablet experience.

It will be delivered through a cloud service and is optimised for touch devices, as large as eighty-two-inch displays.

“We are taking bold steps at Microsoft. The new, modern Office is a cloud service and will fully light-up when paired with Windows 8,” said Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer.

It is laso included with Windows RT. Office Home and Student 2013 RT, which contains new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications, will be included on ARM-based Windows 8 devices, including Microsoft Surface.

Office saves documents to SkyDrive by default and also provides roaming features across all devices. Users get 60 minutes of Skype world minutes every month with subscription.

While the full line-up of offerings and pricing plans will be announced in the fall, Ballmer discussed three new Office 365 subscription services.

When available, each new subscription offer will include the new 2013 editions of the Office applications – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access.

Moreover, subscribers will receive future rights to version upgrades as well as per-use rights across up to five PCs or Macs and mobile devices. The three new editions will be the following:

Office 365 Home Premium – designed for families and consumers. This service also includes an additional 20 GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype world minutes per month.

Office 365 Small Business Premium – designed for small businesses. This service also includes business-grade email, shared calendars, website tools and HD webconferencing.

Office 365 ProPlus – designed for enterprise customers who want advanced business capabilities and the flexibility to deploy and manage in the cloud.

The preview of the new Microsoft Office is available at office.com/preview