At midday yesterday, July 16th, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer finally revealed yet another new product during an announcement in San Francisco that was, as with the Surface, an attempt by the company to keep as secret as possible.

Well, as we know that wasn’t entirely successful. As predicted, Microsoft unveiled the preview of the new Microsoft Office, Office 2013, delivered as a cloud service while harnessing innovations that are enabled by Windows 8.

During the announcement Ballmer said. “We are taking bold steps at Microsoft. The new, modern Office will deliver unparalleled productivity and flexibility for both consumers and business customers. It is a cloud service and will fully light-up when paired with Windows 8.”

On it’s site Microsoft highlights some of the new features of the new Office including:

• Touch Everywhere that enables the user to access and view documents with a touch or swipe of a finger.
• New Windows Applications OneNote and Lync that are designed to deliver touch-first experiences on a tablet.
• ‘Inking’ that uses a stylus to create content, take notes and access features.
• Office Home and Student 2013 RT, which contains new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote applications, will be included on ARM-based Windows 8 devices, including Microsoft Surface.

A customer preview of Microsoft office is available at office.com/preview.