First Look: Windows 8 Office 2013 On Samsung Slate

Windows 8 is a radically new Windows, and using it with a hybrid notebook/tablet takes you into even deeper, stranger waters. Our test drive of the Office 2013 preview using Windows 8 on the Samsung Slate was a tricky one.

To adapt to the growing trends of mobile apps and BYOD, Microsoft is making its productivity apps more available across all devices. The just-released preview edition of Office 2013 can respond both to touch and conventional keyboard and mouse input.

The Samsung Slate is more than a tablet: it is a notepad, a laptop, gaming console, and a touchscreen tablet rolled in one. But can it replace the iPad? The experience is very different. I found navigation unintuitive. It certainly isn't as easy to use as iOS, the iPad's operating system. However, once users get the hang of it, I think it could be a laptop replacement. Because it runs Windows, you can run regular Windows software as well as Metro apps.

Apps are easy to download from the new enterprise app store. There aren't a lot of them yet but it's Windows, so there's an immense collection of software, including much in-house enterprise software, that runs on the Slate in the classic desktop mode.

Although fingerprints can be problem, the touchscreen is relatively responsive.

Watch our demo of the new operating system and enterprise app store.