People who are curious about the Office 2013/365 UI can check out the SkyDrive Web Apps preview that is now online, <http://www.zdnet.com/microsofts-updated-office-web-apps-whats-new-7000001314/> <https://skydrive.live.com/?officebeta=1>
You'll need a Windows Live ID if you don't have one already. It should work from most browsers, including Chrome and FireFox, as well as IE. I just confirmed that it works with IE8 on Windows XP, not just IE9 on Windows 7. I also got the same results in Chrome on Zorin Core (a Ubuntu derivative) x64 in Oracle VirtualBox. I didn't manage it on my WindowsPhone 7 though. I stumbled on this yesterday and I noticed three things in looking closer today: 1. The UI is much like that in the desktop versions of the Office Preview (and it is easy to collapse the Ribbon for those who don't like it, especially when just viewing). 2. In addition to SkyDrive storing ODT, ODP, and ODS format documents, there is now support for viewing them and editing them in the WebApps. For the ODS that I uploaded and tested, it makes a copy for editing so that any differences in ODF support don't corrupt the uploaded version. There is also a compatibility warning if the file copy is edited. (There are such warnings for Office features that aren't handled in the WebApps at this time.) It is thrilling to see the formulas be preserved and working, all in the Excel UI. 3. The SkyDrive and Office WebApps available in browsers are very handy for confirmation of document interchange problems. This is another way to convert documents between formats and also confirm what documents look like in the Office applications, so long as WebApp features are sufficient. - Dennis -----Original Message----- From: Dennis E. Hamilton [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 21:15 To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [UX] Review of MS Office 2013 UI What I find interesting is the fact that inexpensive upgrades from Windows XP to Windows 8 will be available. I have no idea how many XP configurations will qualify as able to run Windows 8 though. There will be some sort of Windows 8 Compatibility Advisor program for qualifying machines for upgrade. I will try it on my aging Toshiba Tablet PC as soon as I can. I figure if there are problems, it is likely over drivers that Toshiba didn't make available beyond Vista. I'm still startled by how well Office Preview handles and produces ODF documents. I haven't run anything very demanding though. - Dennis -----Original Message----- From: Rob Weir [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, July 19, 2012 19:51 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [UX] Review of MS Office 2013 UI On Thu, Jul 19, 2012 at 11:13 AM, Kevin Grignon <[email protected]> wrote: > It appears that MS Office 2013 is starting to be reviewed. Check out the > C|NET review and supporting screen shots: > > http://reviews.cnet.com/office-suites/the-new-microsoft-office/4505-3524_7-35374636.html > What I thought was interesting was that they were no longer going to support Windows XP and Vista. Office 2013 will require Windows 7 or 8. If we look at OpenOffice, only 58% of our Windows downloaders have been on Windows 7. (<1% Wndows 8). So 42% or so on versions of Windows that will not be supported in next version of MS Office. It will be interesting to see what happens around April 2014, when both Windows XP and Office 2003 support ends. There could be a few hundred million users looking for a Windows productivity suite that is still supported by someone. -Rob > Regards, > Kevin
