Office 2013 was officially released last week. And as you can see, I have replaced PowerPoint 2010 and running PowerPoint 2013. Hopefully as a help, here are the most repeated questions I have been answering.
Do I need Windows 8 to use Office 2013?
No, Office 2013 will install and run on Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.
How confident are you in switching to PowerPoint 2013?
While I have been using Office 2013, and specifically PowerPoint 2013 for many months under the my NDA with Microsoft, I have experienced very few crashes or issues using the beta software. Now that is officially released, I had no problem instantly updating most of our computers to Office 2013.
Is there a lot of learning to use PowerPoint 2013?
If you have used PPT 2007 or 2010, it is very similar. The largest change to become familiar with is the new ‘Metro’ User Interface graphics – everything is still there, but with new icons. Many dialogs are now action panes vs. pop up boxes. And things like “Export” for certain Save As options is new. So there is some looking for the feature, but easy to do/find.
Can I use my custom QAT (Quick Access Toolbar)?
Yes! The QAT is the same on every designers computer and show computer and without it we are lost. From PPT 2007 and 2010, the QAT settings can be exported and then imported into PPT 2013.
In August, I did a full month of posts highlighting many of the new features in PPT 2013 (click here for the August blog summary).
– Troy @ TLC