office

With Microsoft SkyDrive recently touching down on Google Drive's territory, it's only fitting we take a look at how the two cloud storage and file-syncing Android apps fare against one another. On the one hand, we have Google Drive: the incumbent and the darling of the Android platform. And on the other hand, we have SkyDrive: Microsoft's offering and somewhat unexpectedly, the new kid on the block. Each app has its strengths and weaknesses, and we take a look at how they compare.

Microsoft SkyDrive (free) Similar to Google Drive, Microsoft's SkyDrive lets you store files … Read more

Microsoft let slip back in June that the version of Microsoft Office 2013 that would be available to Windows RT tablets and PC customers would be a "preview" test-build. In blog post yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that information and added a few more particulars about the Office Home & Student 2013 RT bundle that will be available to those with ARM-based Windows devices.

Office 2013 RT won't be available for purchase as a separate product. It will be "included" with ARM-based Windows RT tablets and PCs and will function as a desktop app, meaning it won'… Read more

Just as it does with Windows, Microsoft typically offers its Office customers an upgrade guarantee program, allowing them to buy the current version of a product with a free or discounted upgrade to the next one being part of the package.

One of my contacts said the Office 2013 upgrade guarantee will begin in about a month's time -- specifically on October 19. If this is correct, users purchasing Office 2010 between that date and the end of the covered period (which my same contact said is April 30, 2013) will get some kind of guaranteed upgrade to Office … Read more

Evernote is expanding its cloud-based clipping and documents platform to small businesses with the introduction of Evernote Business.

Announced amid the Evernote Trunk Conference in San Francisco today, Evernote Business is touted to optimize the "remember everything" app for businesses by allowing employees to create, collaborate and find documents and projects from wherever they are. The extra business-friendly add-on is that the platform should support organization-wide deployment, including the option for company-wide sharing for individual notes and notebooks. However, individual users will still have full ownership over their personal Evernote notebooks.From the management side, Evernote Business includes … Read more

One of the cornerstones of upcoming Windows 8 tablets will be Microsoft Office, but will that be a deal-maker for buyers?

Any Intel-based Windows 8 Pro tablet -- like the one coming from Hewlett-Packard -- will be able to run the regular version of Office, just as it runs today on any Intel-based PC.

And, in April, Microsoft preannounced that tablets running the RT version of Windows 8 will come with Office.

While there is speculation that Microsoft will initially ship a "preview" version of Office 2013 RT (upgradeable soon thereafter) and that the RT version will lack … Read more

Toshiba will join Hewlett-Packard in passing on the first round of tablets based on the RT versions of Windows 8.

This follows the confirmation Monday from Microsoft that Dell, Samsung, and Lenovo will debut tablets and/or convertibles (Asus has already announced its) based on the version of the Windows 8 that runs on ARM chips.

That RT version cannot run the vast library of software written for Intel-based "x86" PCs, though it will have a version of Microsoft Office.

"Toshiba has decided not to introduce Windows RT models due to delayed components that would make a … Read more

In the new Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013 worlds, add-ins are passe. Apps are in.

This is the crux of what Microsoft officials mean when they talk about the new "cloud app model" that the Office team has adopted with its coming products.

This new model -- complete with new Office and SharePoint Stores for marketing/selling/deploying apps from Microsoft and third-party developers -- is "the most significant thing we've done with the (Office) platform in 15 years" since the introduction of Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), said Brian Jones, group program manager on … Read more

Citing "sources familiar with the company's plans," Tom Warren at the Verge reports that Microsoft will ship the first batch of Windows RT-powered Surface tablets with a paired-down version of Office 2013 RT.

Among the stripped-out features are "macros, third-party add-ins, and VBA support," and a "'small number of other features," says the Verge's source, who also says you will be able to upgrade to a fully featured version of Office 2013 RT in early 2013. Microsoft has already announced that Office 2013 will be included with all Windows RT-powered devices.

We … Read more

Since May, Microsoft has dished out announcement after announcement and put on event after event. Now the company is taking a short breather.

Frank Shaw, Redmond's vice president for corporate communications, said in a blog post that the software giant is "taking a breath or two" after two months of hard work at a "blistering pace."

Since May 31, Shaw noted, the company has unveiled the Windows 8 Release Preview, the Surface tablet, showcased Windows Phone 8, and the Office 2013 preview.

The announcement comes a few days after Windows 8 had hit the release to manufacturing … Read more