Office 2013 Kicks Vista And XP Users In The Software

Microsoft has officially confirmed something that Windows XP and Vista users looking forward to Office 2013 will not appreciate. Microsoft says that Office 2013 will not run on computers powered by Windows XP or Windows Vista. The latest version of Office that Vista users will be able to use is Office 2010.

With Office 2013 not supporting Vista and XP, 54.6% of all Windows users will be unable to run the newest version of Office when it launches. Microsoft expects that most XP and Vista users will be able to run Windows 8 when it launches, assuming their hardware can pass the upgrade test. Microsoft blocking XP users from being able to use the new office suite isn't that big surprise since XP is set to retire in 2014.

However, not allowing Vista users to use Office 2013 is a surprise considering the OS is only five years old. There is no indication that Vista and XP are unable to run Office 2013 due to technical limitations. Analyst Alan Krans seems to think this is Microsoft's way of telling people they need to upgrade to the new operating system. The good news is that upgrades from older versions of the operating system to Windows 8 are supposed to be only $40 making an upgrade much more reasonable than in previous years when many users were looking at $100 or more to get the newest version of Windows.

[via ComputerWorld]