Microsoft's ambitious new version of Office has just reached a very important milestone: Release-To-Manufacturing (RTM). In other words, Microsoft is done working on Office 2013 and is now preparing to ship the software platform.

According to the Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft's Office Division, enterprise customers will get first dibs. IT pros and developers have access to download the final version through TechNet or MSDN by "mid-November". Koenigbauer also said that general availability is "planned for the first quarter of 2013". In the meantime, Microsoft is running a sweet promotion: customers who buy copies of Office 2010 after October 19th will be eligible for a free upgrade to Office 2013 once it is released. Also recall that every single Windows RT product sold comes bundled with a free version of Office.

Office 2013 was announced in July and will include all-new versions of Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and Outlook. Windows 8 users will benefit from new Metro-style apps for OneNote and Lync, which leverage a interface that balances between touch and mouse + keyboard input. Office has also gained some powerful cloud features, including SkyDrive autosaving and syncing settings across devices based on your Microsoft Account. There's a lot more features, including Office on Demand, which you can read about in our original deep dive article.

You can download the free Office 2013 Preview for Windows 7 and Windows 8 here.

Source: Office News