Microsoft announced the release of Office 2013 at the end of January. The new productivity suite is the first built to use on Windows 8. Also announced was the release of Office 365 for the home user. Office 365 has been around for a while, but only available to corporate clients. This new licensing level opens up Microsoft’s cloud based service to a wider audience at a monthly price that is competitive with the one time charge consumers are more familiar with. Being able to store documents in the cloud and access them anywhere pales next to one shocking feature – the ability to use Office 365 on up to 5 devices. It’s a smart move on their part, as the ability to access files over the cloud when you have to license your desktop, laptop, tablets and or smart phones individually.
Office Mobile is in development and rumored to be released in early 2013. This suite is designed to offer Office 365 access for Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. Android development required a large infusion of open source developers to support this release. Further speculation is that Linux support will be delegated to the increased open source department.