Microsoft has announced it will release the first Service Pack for Office 2013 early next year.
Office 2013 SP1 will arrive alongside updates for SharePoint and Exchange, and comes as Microsoft looks to shift away from large updates to a rolling release cycle - such as updating Windows 8 to 8.1, rather than releasing a Service Pack.
"SP1 will deliver performance enhancements, feature updates and improve compatibility with Windows 8.1," said marketing manager Chris Schneider in a post on the Office blog. "Of course if you're an Office 365 customer, you're always up to date with the latest versions of our products."
It wasn't immediately clear if the Service Pack would simply include all the updates that Office 365 customers have received so far, or if it would be more significant.
However, Directions on Microsoft analyst Wes Miller told Computerworld that he thinks Office 2013 SP1 will be "the same sort of thing" as Windows 8.1, with new features as well as security and stability updates.
He also predicted that Service Packs "will be more frequent and more regular than in the past".
Microsoft hasn't put a precise date on the release of Office 2013 SP1. "We'll have more details to share on all that is coming in SP1 and how customers can acquire it closer to availability," said Schneider.
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