Microsoft: We can update Office-by-subscription every 90 days

Microsoft may upgrade Office 2013 as often as four times a year, the company's top Office executive said this week, a massive change from decades of more measured development. The faster release pace for Office has been repeatedly touted by Microsoft as one of the benefits to customers who switch from the traditional "perpetual" licensing modelâ€"where payments are made once for the right to run software foreverâ€"to the Office 365 software-by-subscription plans introduced this year. In January, Kurt DelBene, who heads the Windows group, cited frequent updates when he introduced Office 365 Home Premium. "This is a major leap forward," said DelBene of his plan to transform the company's traditional three-year release cycle. But while it has trumpeted the faster pace of changes in Office-by-subscription, Microsoft has been mum about the details, including the frequency of those updates and upgrades, and what they will contain. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here