First, there's the user experience, where workers can begin using applications almost immediately. We see a number of advantages to this approach. In Office 2010, this was limited to individual consumers only, but with Office 2013, Click-to-Run supports large enterprise deployments through the Office 365 hosted service. Microsoft uses 'Click-to-Run,' its streaming and virtualization technology, to install Office products.

Still, much as we found in our earlier look at Office 365, it's a snap to add new users, assign software licenses and monitor the health of various services. However, the software is clearly unfinished, as we found inconsistencies in the look and operation between different areas, such as the main console and Exchange Online. The new Office 365 service has the same modern user interface as Windows 8, providing a clean, uncluttered admin console. IN PICTURES: 10 things we love about Microsoft Office 2013 Click and go Our client hardware was a mix of Lenovo and Dell desktop and laptops loaded with Windows 7 Enterprise and a Lenovo X220 tablet with the Windows 8 Release Preview. Also, we installed the 2013 versions of Exchange, SharePoint and Lync servers on virtual machines running Windows Server 2008 R2. The top-tier enterprise plans include a subscription to Office Professional Plus 2010 for up to five devices per user.įurther, we tested the traditional Office Professional Plus 2013 client software suite that can be installed on a single machine. The current Office 365, which supports more than 50,000 users, costs from $8 to $22 per user per month. Microsoft hasn't announced pricing or scalability for its new Office offering. In the Preview, administrators can create 25 user accounts, with each allowed five installations of the applications on different systems. Additionally, enterprises have access to Exchange Online (including new archiving and legal hold capabilities), SharePoint Online and Lync Online to conduct meetings. This subscription includes Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Access, OneNote, Publisher, InfoPath and Lync clients. We selected Office 365 Enterprise Preview since it meets the needs of midsize and large organizations. The customer preview we tested is available in four plans through Microsoft's cloud service, Office 365. The reworked suite of applications runs on a range of devices, including new Windows tablets it has a new look, which is fast and fluid, yet has familiar commands it responds to touch and stylus, as well as keyboard and mouse and everything's cloud-connected. With Office 2013, Microsoft sets the bar high.

Office 2013 exchange online