With a wide range of features missing from the package

Aug 8, 2012 09:54 GMT  ·  By

One of the appealing features that Windows RT-based tablet PCs will feature when launched on the market will be integration with Office 2013.

Microsoft has already confirmed this, and even said that Office on these devices would be a desktop app, but it did not deliver specific info on what version of the application users will receive.

As it turns out, there will be a preview variant of the newly unveiled Office 2013 productivity suite, at least for the first few months of availability.

To be more precise, the final version of Office 2013 is expected to hit the market only next year, while the first Windows RT tablets will arrive this year.

Thus, it appears that Microsoft decided to load an Office 2013 RT Preview flavor on these devices in the beginning, and that it is set to deliver an update to the final version of the app as soon as it is made available.

Users should rejoice, knowing that they will receive access to Office 2013 right from day one when purchasing a Windows RT tablet, but there are some caveats.

For starters, we should note that there are a series of features that won’t be packed inside the aforementioned preview release, a recent article on The Verge unveils.

For example, macros won’t be available, and neither VBA support, nor third party add-ins. Various other features will be missing from the preview as well, it seems.

Microsoft hasn’t provided specific details on its plans regarding Windows RT as of now, nor did it detail the Office integration on the platform, but it won’t come as a surprise if these rumors pan out.

However, with Windows RT devices landing on shelves on October 26th and Office 2013 expected to become generally available early next year (some suggest February), users won’t have too long to wait before all the suite’s features are delivered to them.