About this write-up
MS Office is a popular application software and enjoys wide usage across the world. Recently, Microsoft released the Customer Preview of the latest version of its Office suite i.e. Microsoft Office 2013 (a. k.a Office 15). This write up briefly discusses some of the new features likely to be introduced in the new software, product enhancements to existing features, some pros and cons associated there with.
Background
This write up is the second part of the article on MS Office 2013. The first part dealt with some of the new features that are expected to be a part of MS Office 2013. Some of the features described in the article were:
- Cloud integration
- Touch and stylus based interface
- The new “Metro” look
- Convenience of editing PDF documents in MS Word 2013
- Support for Open document format (“ODF”) 1.2
- Social media-related integration
In this part, we will look at some of the enhancements, new features which are expected to be a part of MS Office 2013. While there are many features that one could write about, given below is a short summary of the changes / new features that you may find useful:
MS Word:
Right from the first moment you start Word, you will notice the crisp new interface. The basic interface has been changed (“Metrified”). The ribbon feature has been changed (Microsoft has made it more flatter) to appear more spacious. One of the reasons for this is that, when the MS Word is used on a smart phone, the look and feel and the user experience while switching from desktop to tablet / smart phone would appear seamless.
Besides the above, cleaning up the main inter-face has the effect of giving more space and allows the user to focus on the document itself rather than the tools (which are supposed to help and not hinder). To be candid, when I migrated from Office 2003 to Office 2007, the one convenience that I appreciated the most, was that the interface allowed me to work on the document / spreadsheet. All the tools that I would need, were neatly organised on the ribbon. Whenever the need arose, they were only 2 or 3 clicks away or (most of the time) just a right click away. I haven’t had the chance to use the MS Word 2013, but I have a feeling that the experience is going to be even better.
The Read Mode feature is yet another feature to look forward to. This feature is particularly aimed at tablet users. As the name suggests, this feature is for reading. When you switch to the Read Mode, the interface is literally reduced to a bare minimum, thus allowing the document to reflow and to fit in to the screen. One can say its almost like the full screen mode. The interface provides “thumb friendly” buttons on either side of the screen for easy navigation. Some users may be in for some disappointment, because this mode allows the reader to read only one document at a time. Duh ….. you wanted to read ….right!!!!, what else do you want???.
The track changes feature too has been improved for better user experience. The user interface in Word 2013 uses a simpler mark-up look, which appears to be less overwhelming (for many) and intimidating (for some) than the earlier red (strikethroughs) and blue (bold/ underline) mark ups. The new Markup view provides final version of the document with indicators in the margin to indicate the sentences which may have been edited. Whenever you are ready to focus on the changes, just click on the indicator line and it will expand into a thread. Users may find this feature particularly useful while collaborating with others.
One of the conveniences that have been discontinued in MS Office 2013 is the option to add spelling in auto correct by right clicking. This feature was introduced way back in MS Office 97 (I think) and was an instant hit. This feature was very useful for correct typos – – the types you make while typing any document for instance you type “o fthe” instead of “of the”. Earlier, all the user needed to do was to right click and instead of just correcting this one instance—add to the auto correct and save the effort for all similar typos. MS Office 2013 will no longer offer this convenience… but don’t despair, you can still go to the Auto Correct menu and add the same. The only difficulty will be finding it.
EXCEL:
Once again, the basic interface has been metrified i.e. looks and feels very crisp. The look and feel is common between all the other applications of MS Office 2013.
If you thought that MS Excel was an outstanding product, the latest version Excel is even better. Microsoft has added some awesome tools, Quick Analysis tool is one them. In the earlier version, if you selected a range of cells with numbers, nothing happened. In MS Office 2013 – Excel, if you select a range of cells with numbers, a QUICK ANALYSIS tool pops up next to the selected range and gives you a variety of options like—Conditional formatting, charts showing most of the information, formulae, tables formats and in cell sparklines (introduced in Office 2010). However, go around any of the options and you will see it either in the data or in one of the pop up charts. The suggestions are intuitive and change according to the data highlighted. While the overall number of options remain the same, the interface would suggest some of the options (such as why a particular chart or a pivot table may be more suitable) which you may find useful.
The next in line is the Chart advisor. An early prototype was featured on the Office Labs, which has now been fully integrated along with other analytical tools in excel. One can say its a plain vanilla version of professional business analytic tools. With the Chart Advisor, the likelihood of you getting the right chart or pivot table in the first attempt itself is far higher…….which many may agree……… translates to tremendous savings in time. Guess that’s one up for artificial intelligence.
The previous avatar of MS Office ie Office 2010 brought in several features which kinda added “jazz” to Excel. The current version ie Office 2013 has focussed more on functionality rather than “jazz”. But that does not mean that there is no “jazz” added in MS Office 2013. As a matter of fact, the error function (ie the indicator which highlight errors or inconsistencies) has been spruced up quite a bit. For instance: if you move between cell or add or delete some figures that lead to a change in some other result or formula, you are likely to see subtle animations to draw your attention to what changes have happened. So what’s new eh!!!!! Well, for starters, if the change is in the area (ie the displayed area / sheet) then the animation is …. let’s just say …..less animated and if its in a different sheet or so …. the animation is …..a bit more animated. If you click the cell, there will be onscreen prompts to lead you to whatever it is that Excel intends to draw your attention to. This makes it much harder to change or delete information that changes your results without noticing that it makes a difference.……sounds exciting, doesn’t it?
Even the error messages are more useful. For instance: suppose you drag a cell across the worksheet when what was really meant to do was to click somewhere else — the older version would give you a fairly “cryptic” warning ….. but this will not be a problem in MS Office 2013— now Excel gives you a warning in far more simple / descriptive manner, suggesting what’s wrong. Add to this, now there is a whole new add-in to look for errors and inconsistencies between worksheets.
Time slicer & the Quick analysis tools are some other tools to look forward to. The time slicer tool helps you to dig further into your data. For instance: it organises data by date, so you can filter down to a specific period or jump through figures month by month to see the differences. The Quick Analysis is like a shortcut of sorts for making sense of your data as it is or one may say that it is a way to preview different visuals i.e. you’ll see various format-ting options, and as you hover over them you’ll see the document change accordingly, giving you a glimpse of what you’ll see if you end up selecting that option. This is quite similar to the formatting and fonts option available since the Office 2007 days.
In MS Office 97, Microsoft introduced the auto fill feature. It’s one of the features that I have come to appreciate over a period of time. It is an excellent tool to use when filling up data in tables. The Flash Fill apparently is a step up. Flash Fill is a feature that recognizes your data patterns to the point where it should be able to predict what belongs in the remaining blank cells and fill them in for you. For example, if you were to make a time sheet spreadsheet detailing on which client time was spent and by which employee, Excel would eventually pick up on the fact of every employee who has worked on the client / specific project and fill up the data for you. For instance: every Saturday is booked for internal filing etc– in theory, you just have to enter some of that data and then go to the Data tab, where you press the Flash Fill button to make it fill in the rest. A bit of caution here …. Feedbacks available indicate that the Flash Fill is not able to interpret / pick on trends in “all” data.
There are several other features to write about but may be in future… once I lay my hands on the official version. Well that’s all for this month… wish you a Happy Diwali in advance.
Disclaimer: The discussion regarding the features and enhancements contained in this write up are based on the various feedbacks/ reviews available on the internet and various magazines, blogs, etc. The purpose of this write up is only to share the knowledge and not to malign any person or product.
