office 2013 Do You Like Office 2013? Thoughts on Preview

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

I hear some people saying the ribbon is bigger now? Maybe you've turned on the new touch mode which spaces the ribbon buttons out more? I don't think the 2013 ribbon should be any bigger than the 2010 one.

It seems slightly taller on this comparison screenshot (found via reddit):

[George P Global Moderator]

No I'd rather have software to instal on the PC that can work without internet access all the time.

But! I guess when I get a new PC and it comes pre-installed it will have to do.

You still do, it's just that the default links go to the online click and run installers/web installer versions. The full MSI versions are out there for you to download and use as well.

[HSoft]

If you own a windows tablet then Win8 and Office 2013 should be good for you. It seems Microsoft is betting all on the mobile market and basically forgetting about the desktop market. Win8 is a terrible desktop OS and Office 2013 isn't much better. It's not designed for the desktop. Am loading Sharepoint 2013 preview just now but from what I saw (and the information that I have) Sharepoint is basically going away and is going to be cloud only soon anyway.

Microsoft is taking a gamble at the moment and I'm not convinced it's going to pay off.

[efjay]

This is not how it works. It saves it to the local SkyDrive folder, which syncs through the SkyDrive app.

So you have a local copy as well as a copy on your SkyDrive. I don't see any problem at all.

Of course, the SkyDrive app itself is in its infancy, I am sure it will grow to add much more functionality by Windows 8 / Office 2013 RTM time, such as syncing multiple folders.

Overall, loving the new visuals. Thank goodness all the cheese is gone, and especially loving the full screen mode.

Add in File History and you have easy backups and previous versions of your docs.

Personally though, I will be buying a boxed/download copy. 365 doesnt give the option to create new file types with the right click menu, so that wont work for me. Otherwise, looking forward to the final.

[George P Global Moderator]

It seems slightly taller on this comparison screenshot (found via reddit):

It does a bit, probably because the ribbon menu is in all caps but another thing i've noticed now is that the window border is gone. I think in the end you actually have more space for your documents now, or maybe it's the same.

[Noir Angel]

I sent some feedback via the send a frown feature. I'd encourage other users to do the same, it's the only remote chance we have of them listening.

[George P Global Moderator]

If you own a windows tablet then Win8 and Office 2013 should be good for you. It seems Microsoft is betting all on the mobile market and basically forgetting about the desktop market. Win8 is a terrible desktop OS and Office 2013 isn't much better. It's not designed for the desktop. Am loading Sharepoint 2013 preview just now but from what I saw (and the information that I have) Sharepoint is basically going away and is going to be cloud only soon anyway.

Microsoft is taking a gamble at the moment and I'm not convinced it's going to pay off.

I don't agree, sharepoint has a cloud server option but the local version isn't going to go away. If anything MS is taking lots of the new cloud services features from Azure and are adding them back into Windows Server. They know that people don't want to go all in on the cloud and have a local option, that's not going to change. I also don't see how Office 2013 isn't for the desktop, the UI is still the same just a different color scheme at this point (we could and probably will see some more themes for it like we have in 2007 and 2010). I don't get how it's changed so much that you think it's not for the desktop? You can say what you will about Windows 8 but I just don't get it with Office at this point.

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

If you own a windows tablet then Win8 and Office 2013 should be good for you.

Apparently it's not even that touch-friendly.

[Harrison H.]

For anyone wondering what the Skydrive Pro feature is when you right click in Explorer, it's tied into SharePoint/SkyDrive. If you have an Office 365 account with SharePoint, and you go into sharepoint, you'll see the Sync to SharePoint Workspace button in the library. This will create an offline copy of that library for you. The SkyDrive Pro menu contains Browse on SharePoint, Copy Link, Share, and View Errors.

I'm sure when SkyDrive gets updated it'll support that a bit more, and I'm sure there is improved functionality when using SharePoint 2013 (instead of 2010).

[Ci7]

I think because any other office themes you do see will also show up as Windows 8 themes. Notice for now how they two UIs, if you go back to that older Windows 8 screenshot from a month or so back that MS posted, they're matching (white, and lots of it). I believe that in order to fit into the UI better overall that Office 2013s themes will also come out and match with whatever they add to Windows 8 as well.

oh o.0

you mean the little theme design follow my metro? i set it plain on metero maybe that is why it is not sticking on office

as for changing color theme to match Windows that would be godly send! :D

edit:

checked again

i found out i should be signed in to be able to theme office

Edited July 17, 2012 by Ci7

[Vykranth]

Three things that I do not like:

- the ALL-CAPS menus. I did not like it in Visual Studio 2012, I do not like it in Office 2013. There is a registry base settings you can use to get VS 2012 to display non-caps menu. I hope I can find the same for Office 2013.

- In Outlook, the list of messages is not contrasted enough in terms of colors: too much white, not enough separations between items by default.

One thing that makes me give good marks is that the upgrade is completely painless: it picked all my Outlook 2010 right from the start without any hassles. That is really a big plus, nothing to reconfigure, got everything at the right place from the start.

[George P Global Moderator]

I bet they'll have more color in the UI by RTM, this is another case of VS2012 all over I'd say. Plus a dark theme like before is probably going to happen.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

loaded office this morning. i hate the UI. looks like they drew it on a piece of paper and scanned it, unfinished, into the computer.

otherwise the feel of it is about the same as 2010.

overall - meh.

[FiB3R]

Anybody know if OneNote has Find and Replace now? *crosses fingers*

[neo1911]

+ Typing cursor animation

+ Page scrolling animation

+ Excel cell select animation

- God it's ultra white! Need more grey to save eyes.

- greyed Skydrive Pro context menu added even if I chose not to install it.

- Some UI elements on ribbon look like from Office 98

[PGHammer]

I don't agree, sharepoint has a cloud server option but the local version isn't going to go away. If anything MS is taking lots of the new cloud services features from Azure and are adding them back into Windows Server. They know that people don't want to go all in on the cloud and have a local option, that's not going to change. I also don't see how Office 2013 isn't for the desktop, the UI is still the same just a different color scheme at this point (we could and probably will see some more themes for it like we have in 2007 and 2010). I don't get how it's changed so much that you think it's not for the desktop? You can say what you will about Windows 8 but I just don't get it with Office at this point.

I don't, either. While touch support is now available throughout Office 2013, you don't have to use it - even if you have hardware that supports it. (The same is, in fact, true with Windows 8 - just as it's true with - egad - *Android*. Remember my mentioning the Eee Transformer Prime? While it supports touch, even in docked mode, I still stick with the keyboard and mouse, though both are, in fact, optional.)

Here's a reality for you - I *loathe* virtual keyboards. All of them. Regardless of OS. (Windows has had one since 9x/NT4 - Accessibility Features. OS X has had one since Tiger. Android and iOS have always had them. And I despise them all equally.) Every smartphone I have ever recommended has featured a slide-out physical keyboard. (Coincidentally, all have been Android-based.)

Touch support has uses - I'm perfectly willing to admit that. However, given my druthers, would I use it, on a daily basis, *instead* of the keyboard and/or mouse? The answer to that is an absolute and emphatic *no*.

However, there are those that don't feel the same way I do when it comes to touch - I don't have a problem with that. Here's the thing with Windows 8 (and WindowsRT, and even Android 3.0 and later, for that matter) - none of these are biased one way or another. In Android's case, version 3.0 was the first version that specifically addressed non-touch interaction with the OS - 4.x (Ice Cream Sandwich and Jellybean) move further along that path - why would that be done, and on purpose, except that developers, hardware vendors, and via those same IHVs, users, not demanded it?

While Honeycomb was a shot across Microsoft's bow, 4.x is a torpedo (specifically a US Mark 46) - and it's aimed right at the portable Windows PC marketplace. Windows 8 is a multipronged response (and a bit of a hedge-bet), as is Office 2013/365 2.0.

Touch support is available for desktop PCs right now. It's not as inexpensive as it is in the netbook/Ultrabook/tablet space (for reasons of scaling to larger screen sizes), but it's there, and it is there today.

In the notebook space (and especially in the tablet and slate space) touch is pervasive - in fact, it's more pervasive in tablets and slates than notebooks (again, screen-size differences come into play). In the tablet and slate space, keyboards are an option - however, thanks to devices like the Fujitsu Lifebook and the aforementioned Transformer Prime and derivatives, they actually have uses.

There is crossover between the tablet/slate space and the notebook space right now - I specifically mentioned Fujitsu's Lifebooks, however, there are others, such as Lenovo's ThinkPad xt220. Unlike the Transformer, the Lifebooks and ThinkPad run Windows - specifically, Windows 7. Not everyone uses these neither-fish-nor-fowl-books the same way. However, thanks largely to the improved touch support compared to Windows 7 and Office 2010, touch-based users that upgrade to Windows 8 and Office 2013 have a Windows and Office that fits how they work. However, those that use traditional input methods - such as moi - aren't left out in the cold, as the same Windows 8 and Office 2013 support the traditional keyboard and mouse just as well as their predecessors.

No matter which way the market goes from Windows 8's release, Microsoft has your usage methods covered.

Lastly, some food for thought - Windows has *always* been a general-purpose/multipurpose operating environment, and later operating system - that general-purpose/multipurpose thinking has been, in fact, why it has been as successful as it has. Who would EVER have thought that Windows could, in reality, scale to mainframe-class computing, let alone truly high-performance computing? Yet that is exactly where Azure is - and is today. Yet a lot of that same power is portable enough to fit in your carry-on - or even in the palm of your hand (Windows Phone). "Follow the trend - the trend is your friend." The "trend" for Windows is to be general-purpose/multipurpose - hyperniche flavors of Windows (such as Windows Mobile and Windows CE) haven't worked very well compared to the general-purpose/multipurpose mainstream. Even the Azure-based technologies themselves are not staying in the server closet - both Hyper-V and PowerShell started with Azure; however, both are in Windows 8 today. Basically, the trend continues due to Microsoft staying the course.

[subcld]

extremely happy with metro design :)

[rfirth]

No I'd rather have software to instal on the PC that can work without internet access all the time.

But! I guess when I get a new PC and it comes pre-installed it will have to do.

LOL, people will bash software without knowing the first thing about it.

[lol51312]

The smooth text typing/cursor thing is quite nice. Makes it feel much more...moderny? Futuristic? I don't know. It's hard to describe, but it's neat.

your right!

[ccoltmanm]

I have been using Word 2013 since yesterday and it is amazing. I love almost everything they improved.

I don't know why they removed the ability to scroll through the tabs with the mouse wheel going horizontal, and zoom to text width doesn't do a very good job centering after it zooms. Also the themes. Having said that, I just typed a lesson plan and it was smooth and very friendly. The new themes (design style) and reading view are amazing.

[migo]

Aesthetically I like it, but I agree about the contrast. It's hard to tell the difference between a greyed out button and an active one. I'll need to think up something to write, and a few other things to do to be able to really form an opinion on it, and even then it'll only be on Word and Outlook, as I don't use anything else regularly.

[migo]

I'm quite impressed with the fullscreen mode. Most programs if fullscreen would prevent the taskbar from showing if it were set to autohide, but Office 2013 does it properly. Likely not going to use it much for Word, but in Outlook it's great. In Word, opening a PDF takes a while, but once it's open everything is snappy, and it's easy to go through and fix the text, whereas in Acrobat it's a major drag. I want to compare it to WordPerfect X6 though, as it's supposed to have similar functionality and I get the feeling WP would be way better at fixing formatting problems that are the result of OCR.

[Kratzie]

only issues I have are:

1, the whiteness, I liked the blue thay had in 2010.

2, if you have outlook set so reading pane is at bottom, that middle bit with the senders details is way to large. and doesn't leave much space to read the email other than a few lines at a time.

[grayscale]

So is Powepoint working smoothly on your machines?

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

After a day of using Word and Outlook (I never really used the other programs) ...

I like Office 13 WAY more then I like Windows 8...

Will update again this weekend