Microsoft’s Office Hierarchy Begins Taking Shape
As cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service continue to take hold, Microsoft’s flagship Office productivity suite now appears less a standalone product than a hierarchy of services, each with different levels of functionality for different markets. The big question: Will your version of Office do everything you need it to? On Wednesday, sources told the Verge that Microsoft plans a “preview” version of Office for the basic Windows RT version of the Surface tablet. That version of Office will lose support for Visual Basic, macros and third-party add-ons, specifically to optimize the Surface’s battery life. The preview version will apparently be dubbed “Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview,” the Verge reported. If that’s true, Office functionality will essentially be spread across three tiers: Office Web Apps for the most basic consumer use, Office RT for basic tablet use and the full-fledged Office boxed software product, also available in an Office 365 subscription mo...