In this Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 review, we’ll take a look at the strong points of the software, and what could have been done better. Whatever criticisms are levelled at Microsoft; they do consistently produce the best office software around, and Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 is no exception.
Big improvements
Let’s just start by saying right off the bat, that this is the best version of Office for years. There have been significant improvements to both the functionality of the software, and the way it’s presented. Although presentation has long been a strong point for Microsoft, they’ve really outdone themselves this time.
Each window pops in and out of view quickly, and smoothly. Everything looks just that little bit more “polished” than previous versions, and quite a bit more polished than other office suites out there.
The menus are easy to find and intuitive, even if you’ve never used Microsoft Office before. Everything just feels like it is where it should be.
Skydrive
No Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 review would be complete without mentioning this revolutionary new feature. Okay, so maybe cloud storage isn’t that revolutionary, but it certainly makes life a lot easier. Now users can easily save and load files on different devices without having to use a storage device, or having to email the file to themselves.
It also means your files are more secure. If you have to reformat the hard drive of your PC for any reason; your files are safely stored externally without the need for a USB drive. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that whenever you get a nasty PC virus, you have weeks worth of work that hasn’t been backed up. This feature eliminates those worries.
You get 7GB worth of Storage, which is more than even the busiest of users could realistically fill with files for a long time.
The Programs
There’s also improvements to the individual programs that make up the Office 2013 suite. Excel is much better, and much more intuitive to use. Half the trouble with learning to use Excel in the past, was learning how to correctly format. Now formatting is much easier, and something called “Flash Fill” can easily replicate and format data added into other columns.
Word has also cut down on the false errors it used to give, it seems like Microsoft have finally learned the correct use of grammar. And there’s less words that the spell-checker doesn’t know.
The bad
Okay this is not really a criticism of the program, but rather the pricing and licensing structure. This version of Office is only for one user, on one device. And with some decent free programs available (Open Office) it can be difficult to justify the expense. Having said that, you do get what you pay for, and even though it’s on the expensive side, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013 is the best office suite available on the market by some margin.
Conclusion
Microsoft have a proven track record of producing the industry standard of office suites, so it’s no surprise that this is the best one available. Although it could perhaps be a little cheaper, and the terms of use a little less restrictive, it’s certainly well worth the money to get the best there is. Click here for more details.
