By Ellen Finkelstein

PowerPoint 2013 Review

Everyone can now see what the next version of PowerPoint– Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 – will look like. There may be some minor changes and they may be holding back some goodies, but what you see now is a very good idea of what you’ll see later, in my opinion.

You can download the beta here.

There are lots of changes, but nothing big–at least not if you’re focusing only on PowerPoint itself. Instead, the big new feature applies to all of Office. To enable you to work on any device — computer, tablet, or phone — you’ll be encouraged to create a Windows Live account and log in. (After you do it once, it’s automatic.) You’ll also have obvious access to a SkyDrive account — free online storage — so you can save documents there. In this way, you can pick them up wherever you left off — from another computer or device, anywhere you are.

Also, Office has a Touch mode that will let you touch, swipe, and so on if you’re on a touch-enabled device.

But let’s go through the changes to PowerPoint itself.

The look has changed

Each Office application has its own color. PowerPoint is burnt orange. At least, that’s what I call it. What name would you give this color? You’ll see this color at the bottom, on the active tab, around selected slides in the left-hand panel, when you click the File tab, and more.

The entire PowerPoint window is much more understated.The gray around the slides is lighter. The dividing line between the panes is lighter. The ribbon tab names are uppercase. It looks pretty, but I find it harder to distinguish the edges of panes and other interface items.

Review Continued Here

This post is excerpted with the permission of PowerPoint Tips.

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