Is MS Office 2013 worth it?

Microsoft’s Office 2013 suite of software comes with a number of features that make it easier for users to collaborate. The software also offers tighter integration with a user’s Microsoft account for reading emails and managing contacts and calendars.

The Office Professional Plus 2013 version of the software includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher and Lync. As with Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system, the new Office software is optimized for touch-enabled devices, allowing for easier manipulation of documents and presentations than with a mouse and keyboard.

Advantages of Office Professional Plus 2013

Microsoft makes extensive use of the cloud in Office 2013. The suite lets users save documents directly to Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud service. Through this feature, a user can log on to a computer that does not have the Office software installed and use Microsoft’s Web Office components to access, edit and share a document. The 2013 version of the suite does not require additional software components, which made the process unwieldy in previous versions.

Microsoft has made some welcome improvements to the specific software elements in its Office suite. Among the enhancements to Word 2013 is the ability to open PDF documents directly from within Word and edit them, which can be a real timesaver. It can also actively reflow text around pictures or video images as a user types. Word also comes with Simple Markup, a new revision option that gives users a clean, uncomplicated view of a document but still has indicators to note tracked changes. The software also provides a reply button for comments, allowing users to discuss changes and track comments within the text.

The Excel 2013 spreadsheet software offers recommendations for the best charting options. And PowerPoint 2013 allows a user to navigate slides in a presentation while showing the audience only the current slide. Outlook 2013 has inline replies to make it easier to process email and also lets users see multiple contacts and their social network connections in one view on “people cards.” OneNote 2013 takes advantage of touch-screen capabilities to make note taking easier.

Why It Works for IT

Microsoft has addressed formatting problems that some users experienced with previous versions of the software. Users of Office 2007 and 2010 and Office 365 now share the same document format with Office 2013. This means these users can exchange documents without additional software downloads. Dealing with these compatibility problems in the past was a headache for IT shops.

7GB

Free online storage space for SkyDrive users.

SOURCE: Microsoft

The company also kept the style of ribbon controls that were introduced several years ago so the migration to the newest version of Office won’t be as much of a shock as it was for previous versions.

Disadvantages of Office Professional Plus 2013

Some users may be confused by the numerous versions of Office 2013 that Microsoft offers — home, small business, professional, government and enterprise — which present a dizzying array of features.

Also, Office 2013 will run only on Microsoft’s Windows 7 or 8 operating systems and on Apple Mac OS X 10.6 or higher. Agencies that have not upgraded to the latest versions of these operating systems may be unhappy to find that their current OS is not supported.

  • April 2023 Ends Security Updates for Office 2013
  • Embrace Modern Authentication
  • Office Upgrade Options
  • Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise the Best Choice
  • Constant Change in Microsoft 365

April 2023 Ends Security Updates for Office 2013

Message center notification MC357842 (April 12) highlights the fact that it’s time for those who continue using Office 2013 to move to something more modern. This isn’t the first news on this topic as Microsoft told people that it’s coming a couple of times previously. On April 11, 2023, extended support for Office 2013 ceases, which means that Microsoft will no longer provide security updates for Office 2013.

Losing security updates doesn’t mean that software stops working. Take Outlook 2013 for example. If upgraded to version 15.0.4971.1000 (Service Pack 1 with the October 2017 update), Microsoft won’t block connections to Exchange Online (for now), with Microsoft’s caveat that “after October 13, 2020, ongoing investments to our cloud services will not take into account older Office clients.” In other words, for the last 18 months, Microsoft has ignored Office 2013 when designing new features for Microsoft 365.

Embrace Modern Authentication

Modern authentication is another issue. Office 2013 supports modern authentication, but the capability must be enabled. It’s likely that some Outlook 2013 clients still connect to Exchange Online using basic authentication. Given Microsoft’s avowed goal of phasing out basic authentication for email connectivity protocols in October 2022, change is coming for these clients soon. With that in mind, it’s a good idea to move to a more supportable Office version as soon as possible.

Office Upgrade Options

MC357842 lists the options:

  • Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.
  • Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) 2021. A volume licensing version of Office that includes some features from Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise.
  • Office 2019 or Office 2016.

Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise used to be called Office click-to-run or Office ProPlus before Microsoft brought it into the Microsoft 365 brand. Essentially, these are desktop versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint paid for on a subscription model. Products like Office 365 E3 and E5 include the right to use these apps.

Office 2016 and Office 2019 are perpetual versions. In other words, you make a one-time payment for the right to use the software. This is very much the traditional approach.

When I’m asked to recommend an Office version, I invariably select Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise. This isn’t always possible for some organizations, but if you can handle the changes which Microsoft introduce regularly, it’s the best option for people working in a Microsoft 365 tenant.

Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise the Best Choice

The reason is simple: Microsoft 365 apps for enterprise exploit the functionality available in Microsoft 365 in a way that the perpetual versions do not. Features like sensitivity labels don’t work with Office 2016 or Office 2019. Innovations like Loop components (available for Teams chat and due to be available in OWA and the Office desktop apps) are likely to be restricted to the subscription version.

If you use Teams, you need Outlook click to run to use the Teams integration features like Send to Teams (actionable messages won’t work either). The AutoSave feature in Word (Figure 1), Excel, and PowerPoint is something I depend on heavily as all my work is in SharePoint Online or OneDrive for Business. Using a version of Office that couldn’t save as smoothly as AutoSave can would be difficult after coming to depend on it.

Is MS Office 2013 worth it?
Figure 1: Word click-to-run supports sensitivity labels and autosave

Given that Microsoft produces more than 300 updates for Microsoft 365 annually, the gap between the subscription and perpetual versions of Office is likely to continue to grow. This is both a benefit and a problem. The benefit comes from access to new features over time; the problem is keeping up to date with constant change, something that not every user is comfortable with.

Constant Change in Microsoft 365

People often advance the change problem as justification for not upgrading. Although this might have been true in the past, it’s unlikely to be the same for anyone who works with Microsoft 365. For example, Teams updates its desktop client automatically and new features show up all the time. The same is true for apps like Yammer, Planner, OWA, and OneDrive for Business. Change happens all the time. It’s part of working with Microsoft 365. With that thought in mind, why would you want to stay working with Office 2013? Just asking.


So much change, all the time. It’s a challenge to stay abreast of all the updates Microsoft makes across Office 365. Subscribe to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook to receive monthly insights into what happens, why it happens, and what new features and capabilities mean for your tenant.

Is Microsoft Office 2013 still good?

Support for Office 2013 will end on April 11, 2023 and there will be no extension and no extended security updates. All of your Office 2013 apps will continue to function. However, you could expose yourself to serious and potentially harmful security risks. Tip: Not sure what version of Office you have?

Which is better Office 2013 or 2016?

While Office 2013 does work perfectly on Windows 10 and even has a built-in OneDrive storage, it lacks in other departments when it comes to the experience of working with Office. In Office 2016, you have the ability to use Cortana and perform useful tasks like prepping a meeting, or accessing and searching your files.

How long is Office 2013 Good For?

Office 2013 will reach the end of support on April 11, 2023. After this date, support for Office 2013 will end and security updates will no longer be available, per the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

What is the advantage of MS Office 2013?

MS Office 2013 is tablet-friendly, unlike the older versions of Office. Mobile users can use the suite on their tablet without any issues or inconveniences. In MS Office 2013, editing files is easier than ever before. In addition, you can now edit PDF files using Office, which wasn't possible in the past.