What is Microsoft Office 2013, its features and how it is useful?

Microsoft Office 2013 is unofficial name of the new version of Office suite unveiled by Microsoft for its users.

It was unveiled by Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer at a press event in San Francisco. New Office suite is designed to work on all tablets and other touchscreen devices as well as upcoming Windows 8 operating system.

He said, "The Office that we'll talk about and show you today is the first round of Office that's designed from the get-go to be a service. This is the most ambitious release of Microsoft Office that we've ever done."

Features of Office 2013:

• Office 2013 also incorporates Skype, the video-calling service.
• It has been designed to work best with Windows 8
• It has a Windows 'metro' element to it to make office touch friendly.
• Office also includes integration with Yammer
• Inkling, which let's you use a stylus to write on a device's screen that are converted automatically to text.
• Bing Maps will be part of the Outlook email program

Microsoft Office 2013 is the desktop version while Office 365 is the subscription-based version. Its key features are the cloud integration using SkyDrive.

How Office 2013 or Office 365 is useful:

• Users will be able to sync key settings across multiple devices.
• Users can work and share same document using a different device.
• Suite includes new versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access, Publisher and Lync
• Office 365 Home Premium will have 20GB of storage and 60 minutes of Skype world minutes per month. It is for individual consumers and families.
• Office 365 Small Business Premium has business-grade email and calendaring and high-definition Web conferencing. It is for small businesses with up to 10 employees.
• Office 365 ProPlus will have additional features like Lync and the form-creation application InfoPath, designed for IT departments and large companies.

Microsoft has not announced the price yet. Microsoft relies on Office suite for much of its profit.