Microsoft Releases SP1 for Office 2013

Microsoft has released its first Service Pack for Office 2013, SharePoint 2013 and Exchange Server 2013. The package consists of a number of additions in terms of functionality and the improvements and security updates for the Office suite.

Office 2013 users will receive a notification within a month that SP1 is ready for them, while the package for Exchange and SharePoint Server 2013 can be downloaded immediately. Incidentally, users of Office RT within Windows RT also receive the Service Pack update via Windows Update. With the first Service Pack, Microsoft improves compatibility with Windows 8.1 and Internet Explorer 11, among other things. Office should also be better able to handle Windows Server 2012 R2 after the update has been implemented.

In addition, there is better support for high pixel density screens and sensitive touchpads, according to Microsoft. There are also new APIs for developers and the 3D visualization tool Power Map for Excel within Office 365 ProPlus.

Microsoft also claims to have made improvements to virtualization technology that lets Office 365 users install and update desktop applications with a single click. Furthermore, Skydrive Pro has now also been renamed OneDrive for Business within Office. Finally, SP1 contains all updates in, for example, security that has been rolled out since its release in 2013. At Exchange, SP1 provides support for s/mime in the Outlook Web App, among other things.