<p>Microsoft's Office team has run like clockwork for at least the past decade. The 5,000 or so Office engineers delivered a new version of Office every 2.5 to 3 years without fail.</p><p>But these days, two or three years between new product releases is considered an eternity. While it's all well and good for the trains to run on time, the trains need to run a lot faster. In addition, these days, the different Office client, server and services trains don't all need to be on the same schedule.</p><p>Microsoft's Office team is well aware of the new reality. The team is believed to be on track to release the first upgrade to Office 2013 with the Office Blue release, codenamed "Gemini," this fall -- which will be almost exactly a year since the company released to manufacturing its most recent Office client product, Office 2013. But even before that, the Office unit is looking to update the subscription versions of its Office client and server products with new features around June or July 2013.</p><p>(A quick but important note on Microsoft's Office parlance: "Upgrades" are new versions of an existing product or service; "updates" are collections of new features designed to be added to an existing product or serve.)</p><p><a href="http://www.zdnet.com/how-microsoft-is-speeding-up-the-office-trains-7000014370/">Keep reading...</a></p>