Does this mean non-subscribers don't get any such updates?
But what's really interesting is:
Microsoft's Office chief hints at new apps for subscribers, details the transition to touch | The Verge
It certainly hints at Microsoft moving completely away from the desktop.
Microsoft's Office 365 Home Premium subscription service debuted recently, and Microsoft is aiming to update it rapidly. Speaking at Microsoft's TechForum event this week, Microsoft's Office president, Kurt DelBene, says the company is "very excited" about how the subscription switch is going so far, but that it's early days to measure its success. DelBene believes the Office team will "move towards a rapid cadence" of updates for its subscription customers. "You can even imagine new applications coming out for the subscription," he hinted, while the company manages a balanced world of subscription vs. perpetual licenses.
But what's really interesting is:
On the subject of touch versions of Office, DelBene pointed towards the existing OneNote Windows 8-style app, but he also outlined how Microsoft is looking at the transition to full Windows 8-style versions of Office. "I think certainly the transition of the applications to the new environment, the WinRT environment, will allow us to rethink the applications and we have the benefit of the desktop applications still being present." This transition allows Microsoft to be "forward thinking" and consider "the first sets of features" that will be available "as we move Word, Excel, PowerPoint, to the Windows RT environment," claims DelBene. "What is the experience for that when I know I've got the full applications on the desktop as well?"
Microsoft's Office chief hints at new apps for subscribers, details the transition to touch | The Verge
It certainly hints at Microsoft moving completely away from the desktop.