If Microsoft Office has been a user's main productivity software for a very long time and he or she is considering to try future versions of this office suite, here's something which can be looked forward to.

Redmond has released a beta program for Office that enables users to try out future versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, and Access before the stable versions are to be released. While the service is completely free of charge both for individual and corporate use, the company still expects participants to send feedback and support its own team of developers to update these software suite in order to provide improved stability and features when released to users.

Microsoft is getting a few pretty exciting products ready for Office users. This includes a touch-optimized version that's designed especially for devices running with Windows 8 an later. This latest version will enable Windows 8 to make and edit documents right in the Modern UI of their devices. According to the people close to the development strategies, this step is very crucial towards a broader strategy, which also includes Windows 9 that is supposed to be released some time in 2015.

The next Windows operating system is supposed to be dumping the desktop on ARM tablets. However, this would rather include a touch-enabled version of Office. This offers consumers the power to work with documents, whether they are using a desktop or a mobile PC.

Among the first apps that will arrive in the touch-optimized Windows 8 UI are Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Microsoft has already featured a presentation during the BUILD developer conference last April. The only thing that's yet to be known is the date of availability. However, there are reports that said that Microsoft could launch the new Office suite for Windows 8 later this year, most likely after the Android build will officially be released on the market.