Microsoft Office 2013 Update: Office 365 Will Get an Update Every 3 Months, Says Microsoft

Microsoft seems to be adopting a more regular update schedule for Office 365, the subscription service for its latest Office 2013 productivity suite.

"We already have the mechanisms in place to update the Office 365 service on a quarterly basis," said Kurt DelBene, president of Microsoft's Office Division, speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference.

"With the client subscription, we'll have the ability to do that with client business as well, the desktop version of Office."

This is a quicker update cycle than is typical for Microsoft Office, a change that is likely designed to win customers over to Office 365, a more lucrative and dependable offering for the software giant.

"DelBene stated that the updates will get into a routine of a 'major-minor cadence.' Some updates will just bring new features, while others will include more "aggressive" changes," writes SlashGear. "Delbene stated that the updates will 'get into the short cycle where we can add more features, but then we'll have a longer cycle where we really have to intensively change underpinnings of the services.'"

Analysts are saying customers will welcome a faster update scheme, but I'm not so sure. Yes, when it's something potentially cutting edge, like a new Android OS release that improves functionality or adds new features, or all new hardware, customers trip over each other to get it first.

But a software update for a word processor? How many times do most people delay web browser updates or security updates that require a restart? Who wants to sit there for five minutes while Word downloads the latest templates? Or, god-forbid, changes its autocorrect features without asking.

Productivity applications depend on a familiar workflow. Most people hate using a version of Office they're not used to, and would be happy to keep using the same one forever (which is likely why Microsoft is trying to move everyone to a subscription; too many people are probably sitting on decade-old copies of Office).

Perhaps the new update schedule is supposed to get everyone used to regular updates and keep them from getting too settled and set in their ways. Whether or not the updates really add anything new or usueful.