Microsoft launches new version of Office preview to cloud computing

Tencent Science and Technology (Mowgli) Beijing time July 17 news, according to foreign media reports, Microsoft CEO Ballmer (Steve Ballmer) in Monday released a new version of Microsoft Office software Consumer Preview. As Microsoft's cash cow product, office is moving toward cloud computing.

With the new Office software, Microsoft lets consumers have the option to do more work by using a Web browser rather than installing an application on a PC. While consumers are still able to choose and install Office 2013, Microsoft also plans to offer consumers incentives to opt for web-based Office 365 services.

The big shift in Microsoft Office and Office's ability to use touch, stylus, mouse, or keyboard on a variety of up-to-date Windows devices is Microsoft's boldest response to cloud computing. "The first thing you think about in modern office is cloud computing," Ballmer told a news conference in San Francisco. ”

Microsoft has not disclosed some important details about Office 2013, including the price of the software and the charging standards for Web subscriptions, and the date of the listing of Office 2013. But from Monday onwards, Microsoft has allowed users to download the latest version of the Office software consumer Preview.

Even so, the release of Office 2013 will mark a major shift in Microsoft's culture and the strategic importance of web-based software and mobile devices that are gradually destroying PCs and applications installed on PCs. Rival Google, in particular, is constantly pressuring Microsoft to launch web-based free services such as Google Docs and Gmail. In addition, Apple's ipad is also attracting more users from PCs to Tablet PCs.

As a major response, Microsoft is preparing to launch a touchscreen-enabled operating system, Windows 8. But protecting office is more important to Microsoft because the office has more than half its operating profit.

Microsoft says Office 2013 is designed to be used in traditional PCs, tablets and hybrid devices that combine touch screens. In hardware selection, either the Intel conventional PC processor or the ARM architecture processor supports office 2013.

Microsoft says that this version of Office will only support Windows 7 and Windows 8, and no longer supports Windows Vista and Windows XP. The previous version of Office 2010 still supports Windows XP and Windows Vista, but Office 2013 will discard support for these two Windows systems. If you want to use Office 2013, you must upgrade your operating system. At the same time, Office 2013 will bring a new touch user interface, cloud computing, and social networking capabilities.

Microsoft also says users who choose to use Office 2013 subscription services will get additional 20GB SkyDrive space and 60 minutes of Skype global call times per month. They will also have the right to upgrade in the future and use Office 2013 in 5 computers and mobile devices.

Market analysts said the vast majority of companies will no longer buy office 2013 copies, they will choose to sign a contract with Microsoft, bundled with a range of Microsoft software and services. Tom Austin, a market research firm Gartner analyst, Tom Osting that most companies will not consider using Office 2013, nor will they consider the new features of Office 2013. For them, Office "is like a ventilation device or air conditioner." ”

Also noteworthy in Monday is that Microsoft does not mention the issue of pushing office 2013 to non-Windows devices, such as the ipad or other smartphones and tablets that carry Google's Android operating system. Although these devices are very popular among consumers and office staff.

"Office 2013 is by far the best version of Office," says Sarah Rotman Epps, a market research firm Forrester analyst Saha Rothman-Epps. "But Microsoft is taking a lot of risk by allowing more devices to run office."