The Final Note About Microsoft Office 2013
As we’ve discussed in previous articles, it’s been a few years since Microsoft offered a major update to the highly popular Office Suite of productivity tools. With the recent introduction of Office 2013, the software giant runs true-to-form with the three year time-frame for innovation and improvement to existing apps. The latest version of Office definitely offers improved functionality, as well as user-friendly enhancements; the most important of these perhaps being full integration to the cloud and to tablet computing.
With the need for increased productivity for small businesses to remain competitive and profitable in today’s marketplace, the Denver IT support team at North Star, Inc. is constantly on the lookout for improved IT solutions for small business. Microsoft Office 2013 is just such a solution for your small business.
Take Microsoft Office with you anywhere you go
As mobile computing becomes ever more popular it adjunct, mobile productivity, becomes increasingly important. The increased availability of mobile devices, especially tablet computing, the need for productivity tools that work seamlessly while on the move has increased dramatically. The latest version of Office from Microsoft is an elegant solution to the need for productivity tools 24/7, 365, wherever your people may be.
For years, if not decades, small business owners and managers have dreamt of the day that Word and Excel would become mobile, allowing them to carry their favorite productivity apps along with them wherever and whenever they needed to travel to do business. Now, with the combination of Office 2013 and Office 365, as well as the integration of Windows SkyDrive, the dream has become reality – Big Time. Even on your most mobile device, a tablet computer for example, the Office suite of apps is readily available, including: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, Access, and Lync.
Office 2013 has been redesigned from its very foundation to make it tablet-friendly, ensuring that the mobile use of Office is as functional, efficient, and familiar as it is on your desktop or laptop.
- Touch screen interface
- Enlarge your tablet desktop by removing the user interface
- Use the sensitive touch screen keyboard to type at full speed
- Use the sensitive touch screen number pad for spreadsheet entries
In addition to the increased mobility inherent in the new Office, the most popular apps within the suite have also been improved, as we discussed in earlier articles. To familiarize yourself with the improvements Microsoft has made to Word and Excel, please read Microsoft Office 2013 – Looking at Word 2013 and Excel 2013. For a better understanding of the enhanced functionality of Outlook and PowerPoint built into Office 2013, please have a look at Microsoft Office 2013 – Looking at Outlook 2013, and PowerPoint 2013.
Use Office 2103 in the cloud
Beyond the enhanced functionality that Microsoft has built into the latest version of Office, the productivity suite is also available in various forms within the cloud, through SkyDrive, Office 365, and the limited version of Office known as Web Apps (free of charge with your SkyDrive account). For as little as $4 per month/per user, your small business can access Office 365 without being forced to purchase the full suite of services for each of your machines or servers. For the independent entrepreneur, the Web Apps version may also be enough to keep you productive while on the go.
To learn more about Office 365, go here. To learn more about SkyDrive and Cloud Power, go here.
For more detailed information and a review of a hands-on impression of the new version of Office from Microsoft, have a look at this article Microsoft Office 2013 Preview: Hands On, from PCWorld.com. PC World also offers a more detailed look at the new user interface being offered in Office 2013 here: Microsoft Office 2013: A Tour of the New Office Suite’s User Interface.
If you are looking for reliable IT consulting in Denver and the surrounding areas, North Star, Inc., is the place to go for quality Denver network support, including your introduction to Microsoft Office 2013. Get in touch with us today with your IT Service Request.