Thanks for this link – groan – are we ready yet? Christine Kent From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Stuart Burnfield Sent: Wednesday, 18 July 2012 3:56 PM To: Austechwriter; WAustechwriters Subject: atw: Office 2013 overview A report on the Office 2013 public preview by Woody's Office Watch. Full review: http://office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?a=1733 What’s new? Frankly – there’s not a lot. Sure there are some new features but, after looking at Office 2013 for some time, nothing that leaps out as being ‘gee whiz’ let alone ‘must have’. ... Office 2013 has more to do with advancing Microsoft’s corporate aims than providing benefits for customers now. Many of the ‘new’ features are simply integration of existing Microsoft products like Skydrive and Skype. That’s good but not enough to justify paying for Office 2013. The hyped major changes are in the way Office 2013 will be sold - with a concerted effort towards buying Office on a subscription basis – something that Microsoft has desperately wanted for over a decade. ... The interface changes range from the petty (the Office 2013 ‘look’) to screen gobbling menus which may make sense on a touch screen but are a nuisance for most of us. The new ‘flat’ look for tabs and ribbons makes it harder to visually separate items. The whole look seems more like change for the sake of it rather than an improvement to benefit users.