Microsoft Office is the Tonto to Windows’ Lone Ranger—it gets beat up and disparaged by the townsfolk, but in the end it saves Windows’ bacon over and over. While Windows releases are shiny, hype-inflated events, Office does the dirty work of getting users comfortable with each new generation of user interface changes. Office provides the features that gradually convince OS holdouts to move on (well, at least as soon as Service Pack 2 ships). That role is especially heightened for Office 2013, the next version of Office being unveiled today at an event in San Francisco. Ars got an advance preview of the vastness of Office 2013; Peter Bright and I have spent the last week mapping its previously unknown territory. Read the full story at ARS Technica.