Microsoft is expected to release a latest update to its Office suite known as Office 15. It might be unveiled by Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO on Monday, July 16. Sources in the industry claim that Office suite will hit the markets by early next year and will be a part of Windows 8.
Microsoft has been very secretive about its Office 2013. Microsoft is expected to launch the beta version sometime in summer and that might be part of Ballmer's announcement. The release will help consumers get a taste of Office suite.
The company's major profits are from selling of licenses for its Windows systems. About 84 percent of personal computers run on Windows operating systems, and many corporate customers of Microsoft still use Windows XP. Windows remains a top selling tool for clerical uses, accounting for $22.2 billion nearly $70 billion in fiscal 2011 revenue and $14.1 billion of operating income.
There are sources that claim Office 2013 client, servers and newest version of Office 365 services may not be available until May 2013, which will be way too late.
"Skipping a version or two saves costs, it's critical for Microsoft to show real benefits to upgrading," says industry analyst Jack Gold.
It was not until recently that Microsoft confirmed of the launch of Windows 8 in October.
Google has been making efforts to make Office users move on to Google Docs, which is very much like Office and runs on Google's servers and accessible via internet. Apple has been using touchscreen interface instead of keyboard thus telling people clerical works can be carried out even with iPad. But neither Google Docks nor Office works on iPad. There have been talks that Microsoft might be developing its Office 15 to enable editing of Adobe PDF documents and might even run on iPad.
Microsoft has not verified on the information of Office 2013 public beta or it's the release dates. The unveiling of Office 2013 comes shortly after Microsoft's purchase of touchscreen display company "Perceptive Pixel." A wave of fresh innovative steps are what Microsoft intends to take in order to squash its current image as a stale software development company.
News of Microsoft's Surface tablet have added some cool factor points as the Windows 7 makers are desperately trying to break out of its software development shells. Adding hardware to its already strengthened software repertoire can potentially mean profitable results for Microsoft as it hopes to push its touchscreen technology.
