Jan 29
Office—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, the old frenemies—are out of beta and ready to buy. Sort of: you buy the newest version of Office like you buy Netflix or Spotify, with a subscription. And it makes a hell of a lot of sense. More »
Nov 07
Office for Android and iOS purportedly caught in screenshots, won’t lure away Surface loyalists
Posted in: Today's Chili 
We’re wondering if Microsoft is a master of the non-denial. While it has twice downplayed rumors of an upcoming Office for competing mobile platforms, supposed new screenshots and details from The Verge hint that the Redmond team’s use of the word “inaccurate” wasn’t a flat-out rejection. The Android and iOS versions (iOS seen here) are believed to be real, but to serve mostly as hooks for those who crave Microsoft-sanctioned portals rather than full-fledged productivity suites. Excel, PowerPoint and Word apps would start off as free viewers and only unlock editing for those who dutifully subscribe to Office 365; to no one’s shock, even the paid versions would be simple enough to leave Surface owners free from buyer’s remorse. Anyone who hasn’t already been lured away by Google Drive or iWork offerings may have some time to wait if the claims hold true, however. A mobile Office bundle may meet the rumored launch targets for iOS users with a launch sometime in late February or early March, but the Android fans among us might have to wait until May. It’s safe to say that Microsoft won’t clear the air anytime soon.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Office for Android and iOS purportedly caught in screenshots, won’t lure away Surface loyalists originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Oct 19
Microsoft launches four-year, $80 Office 365 University subscription for students
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Microsoft’s given Xbox love to PC-buying students recently, and it’s just announced that it’ll carry on that tradition with Office 365 University, by offering a special four-year, $80 subscription to higher-education students. For that sum, you’ll get four years of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access if you’re seeking a sheepskin scroll, which Redmond says works out to $1.67 per month. Also included are 60 Skype world minutes per month and 27GB of Premium SkyDrive storage, along with free upgrades and the ability to install on two separate computers, to boot. That should take some of the sting out of those scholarly expenses if you need a copy, so check the source to see how to grab it.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Microsoft launches four-year, $80 Office 365 University subscription for students originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Oct 11
Microsoft Office 2013 releases to manufacturing, reaches most of us early next year
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Break out the party streamers and balloons — if only in an orderly fashion, because this is the day Office 2013 has been released to manufacturing. The completion swings Microsoft’s attention towards a rollout staggered over the next few months. Wider availability will have to wait until the first quarter of 2013 — such synchronicity with your branding, Microsoft — but companies who’ve sprung for volume licensing will get access as early as mid-November to December 1st, depending on whether or not they’re embracing a Software Assurance plan. In the meantime, Microsoft is offering an easy path for anxious workers by promising a free copy of Office 2013 to everyone who buys Office 2010 from October 19th onwards. The upgraded software might not be cheap for those who aren’t already buying a Windows RT tablet, but it’s likely to be an important piece of the puzzle for anyone hunting down a touchscreen Windows 8 PC.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Microsoft Office 2013 releases to manufacturing, reaches most of us early next year originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Oct 01
As Google continues to improve other areas of its broad ecosystem, it’s always great to see that the company hasn’t abandoned its search simplification roots. A spokesperson for the company told us, “we recently added the ability to search within Gmail attachments as part of our ongoing efforts to improve search.” This potential time-saver plays nice with Word docs, PDFs, PPTs and many other file extensions. Currently in its infancy, some of your older attachments may not have been indexed yet, so you might not be able to “share” last year’s term paper with your younger sibling until Google brings the feature up to speed. However, if you’re just looking to locate that recently received Word doc filled with notes from your study buddy, then have at it.
Gmail now searches attachment text, homework hoarders rejoice! originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Lifehacker, Google Operating System | | Email this | Comments
Sep 19
Microsoft brought Office for Mac 2011 up to speed with Mountain Lion this summer, and it’s now back with another update that finally adds support for the MacBook Pro’s Retina display. That comes courtesy of version 14.2.4 of the software suite, and that added sharpness naturally extends across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. You can find the update waiting for you in the Microsoft AutoUpdate tool if you haven’t been prompted to download it already.
Filed under: Software
Microsoft brings Retina display support to Office for Mac originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Sep 17
Microsoft announces Office 2013 and 365 pricing, nudges users towards annual subscriptions
Posted in: Today's Chili 
While we still don’t know exactly when Microsoft will unleash Office 2013 and Office 365 upon the world, we do know how much they’ll cost. While standalone versions, licensed for use on a single computer, will still be available, the new strategy makes it more affordable for many homes and business to opt for a subscription package instead. Office Home and Student 2013 (with Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote) will cost $139, while Home and Business adds Outlook for $219, and the top of the line Professional package includes all of those along with Access and Publisher for $399. Compare those to the two Office 365 packages, which promise customizations that follow their users around, expanded cloud storage, access to all of the apps and automatically receive any future updates that come out for them.
Office 365 Home Premium will cost $99 per year, with 20GB of SkyDrive storage and 60 minutes of Skype calling per month and access on five computers, along with the ability to change out the devices at any time, and use “full featured apps” temporarily on any PC. It’s a single subscription for up to 5 users, and will have a 30 day free trial available. Alternatively, small businesses with 1-10 employees could opt for Office 365 Small Business Premium that also comes with all the apps, but lets each user install it on up to 5 different PCs or Macs, along with 25GB Outlook storage, an organization-wide 10GB cloud drive plus 500MB for each user, online meetings and even website hosting. That also has a free trial, but costs $149 per user, per year. If you can’t wait, buying Office 2010 or Office 2011 for Mac as of October 19th entitles users to a free upgrade to Office 2013 or one year of Office 365 free.
Clearly, Microsoft would prefer it if users took advantage of the new pay-per-year offerings, but what do you think? Check out all the details from Microsoft’s blog and check list linked below (or our preview) as well as a few of their examples after the break, and let us know if you’ll be upgrading or switching over to an alternative like Open Office.
Filed under: Software
Microsoft announces Office 2013 and 365 pricing, nudges users towards annual subscriptions originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 17 Sep 2012 22:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Microsoft Office blog, New Office Lineup (.doc) | Email this | Comments
Sep 13
Microsoft details Office for Windows RT: shipping on devices as a preview release, upgrade coming later
Posted in: Today's Chili 
For all the explaining that Microsoft has done, there’s still a fair bit that’s not clear about what Windows RT will actually look like when it ships next month. The company has filled in one of those gaps today, though, detailing what it hopes will be one of the operating system’s big selling points: Office for Windows RT. Perhaps the biggest news is Microsoft’s confirmation of earlier reports that the productivity suite will actually ship as a preview release on Windows RT devices, with a free upgrade to the final version promised between early November and January depending on the language. What’s more, Microsoft has also confirmed that Office for Windows RT will unsurprisingly be a bit stripped down compared to its standard Windows 8 counterpart — there’s no macros, for starters, and you’ll have to make do without add-ins and some other features like the ability to record narrations in PowerPoint. It’s also only going to be available as a pre-installed component of Windows RT — no standalone release is planned. You can find a full breakdown of the differences at the link below.
Filed under: Software
Microsoft details Office for Windows RT: shipping on devices as a preview release, upgrade coming later originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Aug 21
Office Web Apps integrate touch support on iPad and Windows 8, brace us for an Office 2013 world
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Touch-friendliness is a centerpiece for the upcoming Office 2013, but don’t fret if you prefer to live in the world of Office Web Apps ahead of time. As of new preview versions of both OWA and Office 365, those using at least an iPad or Windows 8 will see larger, more finger-ready controls by default. The switch also tweaks the text selection, contextual menus and numerous other elements to work properly with the fleshier input, even going so far as to support multi-touch gestures like pinching to zoom. Windows users get a Touch Mode toggle if they’d rather flip back to traditional control methods. While the web support is still experimental and doesn’t have a completion date on the horizon, those willing to live ever so slightly on the edge can stay hooked on Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Word without having to use anything so archaic as a mouse and keyboard.
[Thanks, Suraj]
Filed under: Tablet PCs, Internet
Office Web Apps integrate touch support on iPad and Windows 8, brace us for an Office 2013 world originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink Office Web Apps Blog | Office Web Apps Preview (SkyDrive), Office 365 Preview | Email this | Comments
Jul 16
Does anyone really want to use Microsoft Office? Of course not. It’s a work tool. It’s a utility. But does it have to be so utilitarian? So bleak? No—not anymore. The new Office is the best Office. More »
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