Microsoft Office is the most popular office software suite in the world, and therefore businesses have grown reliant upon it. While other alternatives exist nothing is quite so common as Microsoft Office running on an everyday computer. There are gripes with Microsoft Office from different people, for different things. Microsoft"s decision to change the UI to the "Ribbon" instead of the traditional menus back in 2007 still ignites some debate among people who feel it was a silly action, and among those who have grown to love it.
One thing everyone probably felt was missing was PDF editing. From Office 2007 onwards, you could save a document as a PDF from inside the software. Office 2010 included it natively, while you did need an add-on for 2007, but neither would let you edit your PDF afterwards. This is set to change in Office 2013: Paul Thurrott"s WinSuperSite claims that Microsoft intend to add a PDF reader to Word 2013 as well, thereby skipping right over Adobe"s own Reader and Acrobat software to display files. Neowin previously covered the report that an Office 2013 beta could be a week away.
Office 2013 in what is referred to as "Reading Mode"
From what we can tell, Microsoft"s new offering could completely change how people interact with PDFs. The file type is difficult to work with, and is normally used only for reading instead of editing due to the difficulties associated with it. A PDF tends to be the final draft, and can be read on eBook readers, such as Amazon"s Kindle. If they could be edited as well, you could see some book layouts being changed to suit eInk displays more effectively in the future. The PDF file has been around since 1993, so it already has enjoyed impressive longevity. Microsoft might just make it more appealing as it ages.
Source: LiveSide.net and WinSuperSite