Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the successor to Office 2010 at a special press conference last month. The chief outlined some of the key features that we can expect to see from Microsoft's next generation office suite but if the latest round of rumors are to be believed, not all of those features will be making their way to Office 2013 for Windows RT ARM-based tablets.
Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have told The Verge that Redmond is planning to remove some features from the tablet version of Office when it goes on sale later this year. The ARM-based slates will reportedly ship with a Preview edition of Office that will be upgradable to a final version scheduled for release in early 2013.
Microsoft will be cutting features like macros, third-part add-ins and VBA support in order to preserve tablet battery life and ensure there won't be any reliability issues. The source goes on to note that a small number of other features are also being cut but didn't specifically outline what they were.
A spokesperson for Microsoft told the publication that the company has not finalized any packaging so it's entirely plausible that said changes are indeed coming. If the source is correct, however, we can't help but think that this could keep Windows RT tablets on the sidelines and out of the hands of many enterprise users. Hopefully Microsoft will shed some more light on this before the tablets drop in October.