I got my hands on Office 2013 a.k.a. Office 15 or even Office 365. The last one is the online subscription model, being the ideal version for Microsoft because you are essentially hooked forever. This comes in two versions with access to different features you can look up and starts at $100 (about 3,000 baht) per month. The advantage is you get access to the latest version at all times and you can access it from anywhere.
Office 2013 or Office 15? These are the two different names for the same product, just like Office 2010 is also called Office 14. Thank you Microsoft, because sorting through all the options isn't confusing enough.
In this article, I'll focus mainly on the desktop Office 2013 applications. The new versions only run under Windows 7 and 8, not even Vista is supported let alone XP. There are differences between Win 7 and 8 but mostly how they start off. As far as I can see most of the changes are cosmetic and layout changes with a few bits of additional functionality. There is for example a new formatting panel on the right of PowerPoint.
The Ribbon is still there but now there is an option to shrink it to a mini ribbon as well as removing it from the screen. You'll find additional tabs on the Ribbon, including the new Design tab, and the Developer tab is now enabled by default. Word has some new layout options to make it easier to work with images. Most will want to stick with the Office 2007/2010 docx format but Strict Open XML and Open Document Format (ODF) 1.2 are also available.
One nice feature is that the Start screen for many apps now shows recent documents on the left that some may want to pin there. I prefer a cleaner look and feel. You can now also reference online images in your documents.
Overall there has been some good work on image handling. Microsoft has added to the recommendations it makes, I'm not a fan but many seem to like it. The live, recommended chart variations for the selected data set in Excel is cool. Saves by default are to your Microsoft Sky Drive, many will want to turn this off, particularly the business users. Touch screen users are supported by a number of new touch based functions.
One excellent change is the ability to open and edit PDF files. The result can be saved as a PDF or a docx with tables and other items maintaining their structure in either document type.
Overall this Office release is more of an incremental update than an upgrade and is focused on supporting the Windows 8 paradigm. The changes are subtle rather than overt and I suspect that many older users on Windows 7 will not want to pay for the upgrade.
Using a computer as much as I do I occasionally get caught by some adware, typically in the form of toolbars that slip by and are added to Firefox. I can usually get rid of them via the Add/Install Programs facility under the Control Panel or removing them as an add-in. Occasionally more drastic options are required like with the Claro start screen I recently had trouble removing.
If you find yourself in a similar situation or just want to see if there is something there then try AdwCleaner. Search for it, grab the latest version and run it. Use Search to see what may be there and Delete to get rid of it. You will need to do a reboot but it cleaned up my Claro problem without any fuss. You can even donate via PayPal if you feel so inclined.
According to the industry analyst IDC, PC shipments are down, Ultrabooks and Windows 8 have not made much difference and tablet sales have taken up the slack. My prediction is that tablet sales will flatten this year as the allure fades.
iPhone sales managed to hang on in Japan and the US but everywhere else the favourite was Android based devices including a sales figure of over 70% in China. My prediction here is that Apple sales will continue to fall against Android and the iPhone 5S will have no positive impact to the current slide this year.
A good idea, just a lot late. Nokia has posted the templates for 3D printer users to be able to make their own shell or case for the Lumia 820 smartphone. This includes some of its plastic parts, with the rear plate available as inert plastic or one of Nokia's inductive charging devices. China figured this one out a number of years back and started mass producing different colours, styles and replacements for most phones. You can find these by the thousand in places like MBK in Bangkok or any department store around the world.
James Hein is an IT professional of over 30 years' standing. You can contact him at jclhein@gmail.com.