Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote to ship free with x86 Windows 8 tablets (update: only those smaller than 10 inches)
During today's
Computex keynote, Microsoft Windows chief Tami Reller just announced that new x86 Windows 8 tablets will
ship with Office in the box. The executive didn't detail the software offering, beyond mentioning that Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote will all be included. Windows RT devices, for their part, will now also include
pre-installed Outlook, beginning with the Windows 8.1 update, which is due to arrive as a preview version later this month.
Update: Microsoft just put up a
blog post saying that these free Office applications will come with "small screen tablets" -- in other words, not necessarily
all Windows 8 tablets. Tami Reller didn't specify screen sizes during her presentation, and we don't know if small necessarily means the Iconia W3 degree of small (i.e. eight inches), but we're seeking clarification.
Update #2: We tracked down a rep at Computex who said that the bundled software will only come with Windows 8 tablets under 10 inches, which will evidently rule out a lot of devices.
