Maltese users of Microsoft’s webmail service, originally know as Hotmail and in recent years renamed Windows Live, have noticed changes. This is because Microsoft has embarked on an important upgrade of its popular Office suite of productivity software and other online services.

The new Office is social and unlocks modern scenarios

It has launched the new web-based Office 365 that will complement the new Office 2013 expected in the coming weeks.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer recently unveiled the customer preview of the new Microsoft Office (Office 2013), which, according to the company, features an intuitive design that works beautifully with touch, stylus, mouse or keyboard across new Windows devices, including tablets.

The new Office is social and unlocks modern scenarios in reading, note taking, meetings and communications and will be delivered to subscribers through a cloud service that is always up to date.

“Mega technology trends are changing how people work today: the cloud, mobile, social, and big data are all impacting how businesses engage with their customers, partners, and employees to better compete,” Louise Mifsud, marketing manager at Microsoft Malta told i-Tech.

“Microsoft is thinking about all of these trends individually and as they relate to one another. In the case of cloud computing, we think of it as a key step toward helping our customers achieve better business agility, economics, and user experiences.

Office 365 will complement Windows 8, the new operating system from Microsoft for computers and tablets will be officially launched worldwide in October. It will also be available in Malta.

Office responds to touch as naturally as it does to keyboard and mouse. Swipe your finger across the screen or pinch and zoom to read your documents and presentations. You can author new content and access features with the touch of a finger or use a stylus to take notes and then convert handwriting to text.

There are also new Windows 8 applications. OneNote and Lync represent the first new Windows 8 style applications for Office. These applications are designed to deliver touch-first experiences on a tablet. A new radial menu in OneNote makes it easy to access features with your finger.

Office Home and Student 2013 RT, which contain new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications, will be included on ARM-based Windows 8 devices, including Microsoft Surface, which is expected for commercial launch in the coming months.

The new Office is available as a cloud-based subscription service, without the need to install anything on your computer. The move to the ‘cloud’ in Office 365 is evident and an integral part of the new suite. SkyDrive, Microsoft’s free online storage facility is integrated with Office 365 and documents are automatically saved in SkyDrive for easy retrieval wherever there is internet access on a tablet, PC or phone, on the principle of ‘cloud’ services. Documents are also available offline and sync when you reconnect.

Once signed in to Office, a user’s personalised settings, including the most recently used files, templates and even the custom dictionary, are immediately available across virtually all of your devices.

With a subscription, users can access Office even when they are away from their PC by streaming full-featured applications to an internet-connected Windows-based PC.

Office 365 also offers new social media features like Yammer, which delivers a secure, private social network for businesses. Signing up is free and it offers integration with SharePoint and Microsoft Dynamics. Skype, the online communications software bought by Microsoft a few years back, also comes ready-packaged.

“Because of its power to fundamentally change how businesses operate and compete, the ‘cloud’ is a game changer for the enterprise. Even consumers today have more choice, more options, and more flexibility in the technology that they use every day – from powerful mobile devices and computers to the social networks that they use to connect with each other. As that technology spills over into professionals’ lives, the line between the personal and the professional is blurring. People want to use the same technology at work as they use at home,” added Mr Mifsud.

There is also a host of other new features in the traditional way of using the individual software.

The Read Mode in Word provides a modern and easy-to-navigate reading experience that automatically adjusts for large and small screens. PowerPoint features a new Presenter View that privately shows current and upcoming slides, presentation time, and speaker notes in a single glance.

While presenting, users can zoom, mark up and navigate your slides with touch and stylus. Lync includes multiparty HD video with presentations, shared OneNote notebooks and a virtual whiteboard for collaborative brainstorming.

While the full line-up of offerings and pricing plans will be announced soon, details on three new Office 365 subscription services were released.

Each new subscription offer will include the new 2013 editions of the Office applications. Subscribers will receive future rights to version upgrades and per-use rights across up to five PCs or Macs and mobile devices.

Office 365 is now available in Malta. Details of subscription plans and pricing can be viewed at www.microsoft.com.mt/Office365.