Could touch interface work for Microsoft Office?

Not only is Microsoft® planning to release a new version of its Windows® operating system this year, the software giant is also gearing up for the launch of its newly refreshed Office. It is well-known that Windows 8 will introduce a new touch interface for the operating system, but one expert questions whether the same could be true for Office 15.

Writing for technology news provider InformationWeek, Serdar Yegulalp pleads with Microsoft not to go overboard with the touch-enabled features of the upcoming Office, noting that while Windows 8 might be optimized for tablet computers, the productivity suite will still be favored by desktop and laptop users.

As it currently stands, tablet computers are used primarily for media consumption rather than content creation. Though this may change eventually, it is unlikely to do so by the time Office 15 is released.

"A touch-centric version of Office would be at best a niche filler, because the vast majority of people who would bother to use Office at all would be on a notebook or full PC to begin with," Yegulalp writes.

Yegulalp's assertions are based on mere speculation. At the moment, very little is publicly known about Office 15. However, Microsoft did recently announce that its new productivity suite has entered the technical preview stage, so more information will likely come in the near future