Microsoft details Office for Windows RT: shipping on devices as a preview release, upgrade coming later

For all the explaining that Microsoft has done, there's still a fair bit that's not clear about what Windows RT will actually look like when it ships next month. The company has filled in one of those gaps today, though, detailing what it hopes will be one of the operating system's big selling points: Office for Windows RT. Perhaps the biggest news is Microsoft's confirmation of earlier reports that the productivity suite will actually ship as a preview release on Windows RT devices, with a free upgrade to the final version promised between early November and January depending on the language. What's more, Microsoft has also confirmed that Office for Windows RT will unsurprisingly be a bit stripped down compared to its standard Windows 8 counterpart -- there's no macros, for starters, and you'll have to make do without add-ins and some other features like the ability to record narrations in PowerPoint. It's also only going to be available as a pre-installed component of Windows RT -- no standalone release is planned. You can find a full breakdown of the differences at the link below.

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Microsoft details Office for Windows RT: shipping on devices as a preview release, upgrade coming later originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 13 Sep 2012 14:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.