Microsoft Office 2013 reaches RTM stage

Microsoft has announced its Office 2013 productivity suite of software has hit the RTM build stage. People who choose to buy Office 2010 on October 19th will get Office 2013 for free when launched.

About three months after Microsoft launched a free preview version of Office 2013, the company has announced that the major work behind the final shipping version of its latest productivty software suite is completed.

In a post on the official Office blog, Microsoft said:

Moments ago, the Office engineering team signed off on the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build. This milestone means the coding and testing phase of the project is complete and we are now focused on releasing the new Office via multiple distribution channels to our consumer and business customers.

People who get the current retail version of Office 2010 starting on October 19 will be able to get a free copy of Office 2013 when it ships sometime in the first quarter of 2013. As previously announced, people who purchase a new Windows RT-based hardware product on or after October 26th will get a "preview" version of Office 2013.

The blog also said that subscribers to Office 365 Enterprise will get some "new capabilities" in an upcoming update that will be made available in November. TechNet and MSDN subscribers, along with Volume Licensing customers with Software Assurance will be able to get their hands on Office 2013 sometime in mid-November.

Source: Office blog | Image via Microsoft