WHAT IS NEXT WITH MICROSOFT OFFICE?

Wilma Andrews, Virginia Commonwealth University, wandrews@vcu.edu Robert Andrews, Virginia Commonwealth University, randrews@vcu.edu

ABSTRACT Office 2013, Preview version, has a new look, new features, new collaboration tools, connectivity from multiple devices, and improved WebApps. The Ribbon interface remains but there are changes. Touch screen capabilities are now included with Windows 8. This session will provide an overview some of the new features in Office 2013.

OFFICE 2013 The Preview release of Microsoft Office 2013 (Office 15) has a new application interface but retains the Ribbon. P.J. Hough, the executive who leads the Office division stated in January 2012, "With Office 15, for the first time ever, we will simultaneously update our cloud services, servers, and mobile and PC clients for Office, Office 365, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and Visio.” Office is finally meeting the cloud. When an application is first launched the default is to save to the cloud at SkyDrive. This enables access to everything from device to device so when the user switches computers all files will follow. Files can be saved locally as well. With a touch screen enabled computer/tablet, this latest version enables touch, pinch and zoom. Applications will resize according to the device where it is being used. Generally, Microsoft is looking at what they consider to be the modern office and have divided their latest offering to include Windows 8, the Cloud, Social networking and New scenarios.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXOTrRKAnAQ

As with every previous version, there are new icons for each of the applications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Office_2013

The Ribbon no longer is colored and has been resized to allow for touch screens and dual monitors. The Preview is available for download from Microsoft and can be installed with Office 2010 running.

Word 2013 Word has two new tabs – Design and Developer (though Developer was also an option in 2007/2010). PDF files can be imported, edited in Word and then saved either as a Word file or PDF. Imported files will maintain formatting and that formatting can be edited. PDF files can now also be embedded in Word documents. Online resources can also accessed and even embedded in Word documents. At Insert, a thumbnail of all opened Web resources can be viewed and selected to include the screenshot in the document. Co-authoring is much improved. You or others can work on a document stored on the cloud at the same time and pick the document back up later using another device. One last bit of additional interface work is the new “reader” document view. This view is designed mostly for use on tablets with touch, and allows a user to view a file in read-only, flipping through its pages by scrolling left and right on the screen. The Reader view goes along with Microsoft’s ambitions to make Word documents not just the way documents are created, but consumed. http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/07/first-look-word-2013/2/

With the launch of Word, the User Interface is very different.

Word 2010

Word 2013

Excel 2013 With the launch of Excel, the User Interface is very different.

Excel 2010

Excel 2013

Excel sheet tabs are larger, square and colored. 66 functions have been added. One of which is “Formula text” which enables formulas to be “seen”. Flash fill will New functions. Math and trigonometry, statistics, engineering, date and time, lookup and reference, logical and text functions have been added in this version. There are also Web service functions.. Excel has new filtering and Roman Numerals to Arabic conversion,

There are changes to charting features. At Insert tab there is a new Recommended Charts button and once a chart is created, there are new chart buttons to make changes to chart elements. Rich and refreshable text from data points or other text in data labels can be included and enhanced.

Tables have pivot charts and tables in the contextual tab. Pivot Tables and Recommended Pivot Table are suggestions by provided by Excel. PivotTables have helpful recommendations now based on the data selected. You can also add additional tables for single and multi-table PivotTables. Timelines is an option now with PivotTables too. Standalone or decoupled PivotCharts are now options. Flash fill - combines two cells based on what Excel anticipates the user intends to do. Slicers for PivotTables was first introduced in Office 2010. Now they can be used with tables, query tables and other data tables. Each workbook will have its own window. This makes it easier to work on two workbooks at one time and makes working on two monitors easier. (Word has had this in previous version.) Collaboration has been improved when using SkyDrive or Office 365.

Select data and a Quick Analysis icon appears. Data analysis options popup. Quick Analysis has Live Preview in this version. Data - quick analysis has built in features for formatting, charts, totals, tables and sparklines

PowerPoint 2013 With the launch of PowerPoint, the User Interface is very different.

PPT 2010

PPT 2013

The Ribbon remains but a cleaner look is setup to be used on tablets and iPhones to enable swiping and tapping. Presenter view automatically adjusts for projectors. Presentation mode enables seeing the next slide and notes on screen while viewers only see the slides. Zooming in on slides is possible with a magnifying glass. PowerPoint has new themes and transitions. Widescreens will be better able to view in a 16:9 layout. It is easy to change to touch mode which will enable making edits on tablets. The Notes section can be toggled on/off.

Charts are much easier to use. As in Excel, there are 3 buttons next to each chart where formatting changes can be made.

WebApps Cloud services and collaboration are greatly improved with many new features in the cloud WebApps. When first launched, there are many new features/options.

Previous Word version

New Word version

Previous Excel

New Excel version

Previous PPT

Current PPT