Microsoft confirms final version of Office RT 2013 now available

Microsoft has confirmed that it has made the final version of Office Home & Student 2013 RT for Windows RT devices available for download manually, or via an automatic update in a few days.

A few days ago, it was reported that Microsoft has started the process of updating the Windows RT version of Microsoft Office 2013 Home & Student from the current preview version to the final version, well ahead of Microsoft's previous schedule.

Today, Microsoft confirmed in a post on the official Office blog that the final version of Office Home & Student 2013 RT is indeed ready for download for people who own Windows RT-based products, including the Surface tablet. Microsoft stated:

Customers who buy a Windows RT device will automatically receive the final release of Office Home & Student 2013 RT, a few days after they first use their new device (Wi-Fi connection required). Alternatively they can manually download the final release immediately via Windows Update.

As we have reported before, this Office software bundle that comes with Windows RT contains versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. It will be included in all Windows RT products, including the Surface, the Asus Vivo Tab RT and the Dell XPS 10 tablets.

Microsoft said that, in a recent study commissioned by Morgan Stanley Research, " ... it found that 61 percent of potential tablet purchasers consider Microsoft Office to be the single most important software feature when considering a tablet purchase." This will likely give the Surface tablet a major foot up on its competition.

Source: Office Next blog | Image via Microsoft