What are your MS Office plans for your Surface Pro?

[jneikum]

Here's another thing I've been pondering...

Will the Office Apps that come with Skydrive meet my needs or will I still need to get a full Office Suite? I can't seem to find a chart anywhere that highlights what you can do in the suite vs. the apps. I don't get super involved with my documents, but there is some functionality I would expect to be missing.

Is it worth buying 2010 now and getting the upgrade? I don't know if I'd want 365 or 2013 and it looks like based on your purchase of 2010 is the version you will be upgraded to.

We use Home & Business 2010 at work now, but I don't know if there is a spare license on it. I think the previous manager put it on his laptop and took it with him. Otherwise I would just install that and forego the 2013.

I don't have an option of getting a discounted copy through work, and I don't want to blow $200 bucks on something I won't need...

 

[Hstakz]

Surface pro doesn't come with any version of office. However surface rt does with full office 2013, maybe you could remote desktop if your at your work and need it. Maybe the cheaper office 2007?

 

[Russ]

JN --

As mentioned in the other thread, the Surface Pro is for my Ladyfriend, so some decisions are still "portable." When I set up the Surface Pro for her, I will also be upgrading her home computer to Win8 Pro. I have unused licenses for Office 2013 and Office 2010 (both Pro). My current thinking is to put Office 2013 on the Surface Pro and Office 2010 on her home computer. We can always upgrade the home install, if she wants, but I doubt that will happen. I would like to have the Surface Pro more or less set-in-stone before she starts lugging it around China.

Regards,
Russ

 

[ArnoldC]

It'll will depend on a) the complexity of your documents, b) add-in (like PowerPivot, CRM for Outlook) dependencies.

In some situations where I needed a quick edit, or new document, the Word Online works just fine. Why don't you load your documents into SkyDrive and edit it online, so that you will get the experience and determine if you will need Office 2013 or not.

 

[bosamar]

If you or someone in your household qualifies the Office Academic version is a bargain.

 

[starLog]

I will purchase Office Suite 2010 if I can find it. Planning to use the Pro for work. They have Exchange 2010.

 

[ArnoldC]

A brand-new spanking Surface Pro with Office 2007? Those DLLs are old! And running 32-bit on 64-bit, aka, WOW64, isn't the ideal. Wasted 64-bit hardware...

 

[bosamar]

A brand-new spanking Surface Pro with Office 2007? Those DLLs are old! And running 32-bit on 64-bit, aka, WOW64, isn't the ideal. Wasted 64-bit hardware...

I'm not a fan of 2007 either, unless of course it was the only office available. The current version is always better!

 

[Mr.NK]

Although most changes in 2013 seems to be small or cosmetic, i don't wanna miss the integration of Skydrive and syncing the last position on a document between the devices anymore. If you're constantly using more than one device and create/edit some more complex documents, the skydrive-app isn't up to the job. It's more for small editings on a external pc. If you'll have to do such jobs on external pc constantly, Office 365 would be the best choice.

 

[Omni]

Office 2013 will also have touch support which is something you would want on touch enabled computer.....

 

[Ashles]

I'm not a fan of 2007 either, unless of course it was the only office available. The current version is always better!

Not always. My department prefers 2003 to 2010. And we do a LOT of PowerPoint.

 

[jneikum]

Surface pro doesn't come with any version of office. However surface rt does with full office 2013, maybe you could remote desktop if your at your work and need it. Maybe the cheaper office 2007?

I was thinking about it, but I don't know how our network is set up. I'll have to talk to my IT guy and see if that's an option for me