Microsoft Office 2013 hits MSDN, TechNet
Summary: Microsoft has made the RTM versions of its new Office client and servers available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers.
Microsoft's newest versions of its Office 2013 suite and its Office servers (SharePoint Server 2013, Exchange Server 2013, Lync Server 2013) are available as of October 24 to TechNet and MSDN subscribers.
Microsoft released to manufacturing (RTM) the final Office 2013 client, server and services on October 11. At that time, the Softies said volume licensees and TechNet and MSDN subscribers would be able to get the final bits by mid-November.
It looks like that timing estimate was conservative. According to a few of my buds on Twitter (thanks @jghassell and @dochouse7), TechNet subscribers can already see and download the RTM versions of the new Office products.
I've asked Microsoft if volume licensees also can get the RTM bits as of today. No word back yet on that one.
Update: Volume licensees are saying they cannot yet grab the RTM bits.
The RTM of Office 2013, on 10/11/12, was earlier than many of us Microsoft watchers had been expecting. Word on the street for the past few months was Microsoft was targeting November 2012 as the RTM date for its Office new client, servers and services.
Microsoft officials said earlier this fall that Office Home & Student RT 2013 -- which is preloaded with Windows RT-based machines, including the Microsoft Surface RT -- will start rolling out to users as of early November. Earlier this week, it looked as though this timeframe is still generally correct. A new Office blog post this week said the RTM bits would be available a few days after devices were available, meaning a few days after October 26.
Update No. 2: Microsoft has said commercial availability for those without volume license agreements or TechNet/MSDN will be Q1 2013. Originally, I heard this Office 2013 general-availability date would be February 2013. But now I'm hearing it's more likely to be January 2013.
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Talkback
Thank you Mary
WP8 SDK
I missed that time and
Alternative color schemes available?
Yes!
White, Light Grey, and Dark Grey ... that's it.
* Installed fast, and runs a bit faster than Office 2010.
* The light grey scheme makes it tolerable for Outlook, but I've got Office 2010 and 2013 running side-by-side on two computers and Outlook 2010 is still much more visually appealing and interesting. I think Microsoft is underestimating how the drab greys everywhere will hurt. The colors in the other Office 2013 apps, though, are nice, but not really better or worse, just nice, but with a different style. I really wish that Microsoft had provided more color schemes than just white, grey and dark grey...
* Deep integration with SkyDrive and one's Microsoft Account, very transparent.
* Relatively few application changes below the surface, except that Exchange users can no longer save to a local PST file (which is a significant negative for those using hosted Exchange services). Here is a link to what's new:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178954%28v=office.15%29.aspx
* Lync included, but no Skype integration (yet) that I can see.
(Have not tested the touch-integration features yet on a tablet.)
Outlook 2013 and PST files
PST files still work
Office 365 fix for the blinding white background?
Holy crap...
To the OEMs and Surface
If MS hurries, they can have Office 2013 ready to go for Christmas sales too.
"RTM bits would be available a few days after devices were available,"
Anyone know how many revs back the Preview version is from RTM?
Partners?
Any news when these are going to be available from Partner Network?
Office 2013 for TechNet Subscribers
Nessa
Office 2013 for TechNet Subscribers
down load problems
if this problem pops up the only work around is to switch to fire fox as the browser and get a clean down load.