Introduction to Microsoft

QUESTION 2

Before identifying the difference between Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 and 2011, the term Microsoft PowerPoint needs to be clearly defined. By definition, PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is included in the standard Office suite along with Microsoft Word and Excel. The software allows users to create anything from basic slide shows to complex presentations.

 
PowerPoint is often used to create business presentations, but can also be used for educational or informal purposes. The presentations are comprised of slides, which may contain text, images, and other media, such as audio clips and movies. Sound effects and animated transitions can also be included to add extra appeal to the presentation.

Difference between Microsoft Power point 2013 and 2011

Microsoft PowerPoint 2011 (also called version 14) is a version of the Microsoft Office productivity suite for Microsoft Windows, It is the successor to Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 and the predecessor to Microsoft PowerPoint 2013. PowerPoint2011 includes extended file format support, user interface updates, and a changed user experience. Office20 10 became available for retail and online purchase on June 15, 2011. Office 2011 is the first version to require product activation for volume licensing editions.  In office 2010, every application features ribbons in user interface.

Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 (also called version 15) is a product of Microsoft Office 2013, a productivity suite for Microsoft Windows. It is the successor of Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and includes extended file format support, user interface updates and support for touch among its new features. Development on this version of Microsoft PowerPoint was started in 2011 and ended on October 11, 2012 when Microsoft Office 2013 was released to manufacturing. Microsoft released Office 2013 to general availability on 29 January 2013. This version includes new features such as integration support for online services (including Skydive and Skype), improved format support for Office Open XML (OOXML), Open Document (ODF) and Portable Document Format (PDF) and support multi – touch interfaces.

Microsoft PowerPoint 2103 and 2011 are both presentation application but of different versions as seen above. To clearly differentiate between applications, we try explain their basic features as they differ between them.

Features of Microsoft PowerPoint 2013

Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 is designed with the same Metro style user interface of Windows 8, the design and functionality of Microsoft Office 2013 has been streamlined to work with both PC’s and Tablet devices. Even though, at first glance it appears to be a lot different than its predecessor, it is essentially the same product, with a few tweaks and enhancements added here and there. The main focus has been on improving document sharing using the SkyDrive cloud service, and using it to access and edit them from remote locations. In this article, we will look at the enhancements of the old features and addition of new ones in the Microsoft PowerPoint 2013.

Revamped landing page

The landing page of PowerPoint 2013 has received the much needed facelift. The landing page of the previous version, Microsoft Office 2010, looked very bland and even confusing to some users. In the newer version, the landing page has been revamped to provide users with quick access to locally available templates, as well as the online database. The online templates are divided into several categories such as Business, Industry, Small Business, Presentation, Orientation, Design Sets, 4:3, Media, Nature, Marketing etc. While new presentations can be created from the main window, the left sidebar shows all the recently accessed presentations.

Color Themes For Templates

The templates can be used with different color themes. For instance, if the theme comes with a light color scheme, and you want to use darker colors, just click the template and all the available color schemes will be displayed. You can select the required one to use in your presentation. Just like the previous versions, you can also manually change the color and style of elements in a termplate.

Enhanced Presenter View

The Presenter View in PowerPoint 2013 displays the Active slide on the left side, the Next slide at the top right, while the Notes for the current slide are displayed in the bottom right corner. A timer appears above the preview of the current slide, and extra controls are available at the top and bottom of the presenter View window.

Account Management

The Account Management window allows you to connect to your SkyDrive account, and add services to use with PowerPoint. Sign in to your Microsoft Account, and it will automatically connect to your SkyDrive account. You can use the same account to sign in to Microsoft Office 2013 on different devices. This way, all your saved documents will be synced to the cloud and will be available for viewing and editing from any device. This eliminates the need to carry your documents in removable storage drives. Using the SkyDrive account, you can easily share your presentations and invite others to collaborate on required presentation projects.

Features of Microsoft PowerPoint 2011

Organizing Slides into Sections

In PowerPoint 201 0,you have the ability to organize your slides and break them into different sections; this is useful for larger presentations, or presentation with a lot of varying material.

Merge and Compare Features

In PowerPoint 2010, you can use the Merge and Compare feature to compare different presentations, submit edits to either presentations, manage content on both presentations, and then merge the presentations together for a final, cohesive product. This feature should used with different be used with different saved versions of the same presentations making it useful for collaborative efforts.

Working online With Web

Using Microsoft SharePoint or a Windows Live account, you can access online Office programs, including PowerPoint. With the PowerPoint 2010 web application, you can edit an existing presentation or create a new one.

New PowerPoint 2010 Transitions and Animations

In PowerPoint 2010, you have the option of using several new transition and animation features. The ne transitions offer a more 3-D effect and along with new animations, there are also new features you can use across presentations and slides

Animations

There are several new animations video, but there are also new features available for you to use. In PowerPoint 2010 you have the ability to copy and paste animations from one object to another using the Animation Painter.

Editing Pictures in PowerPoint 2010

Like Word 2010, PowerPoint 2010 includes new image editing features. These features give you more control directly within PowerPoint. allowing you to make changes that reflect the look of the rest of the presentation better.

Conclusion

After all the newly introduced and enhanced features added to PowerPoint 2013, it seems that Microsoft has worked really hard to improve the functionality and availability of everything the program has to offer. Features that were previously almost hidden are now made more obvious for the new user. Due to its versatile interface, with several dialog boxes changed into panes within the main window, PowerPoint 2013 is definitely a good presentation utility to use on both PCs, as well as tablets