Microsoft Office 2016 Released

Released today, Office 2016 is the first upgrade to Microsoft’s productivity suite in three years. For Office 2016, Microsoft is incorporating numerous collaboration features the company has been honing in its Web-based Office apps into the client applications.

Co-authoring has been added to the desktop versions of Word, PowerPoint and OneNote and this includes real-time typing in Word that lets you see edits as soon as they take place.

Microsoft has also added a lot of functionality targeted at business, such as the new Office 365 Planner.

That’s why Microsoft has set a bold ambition to reinvent productivity and business process in this mobile-first, cloud-first world.

Office 2016 is available in 40 languages for PCs operating Windows 7 or higher.

Microsoft integrated Skype with Office 2016 so that teams don’t have to leave the app to chat with each other about the project they’re working on.

Later this year, Microsoft will enable enterprise data protection in Windows 10, with support in Office Mobile. The desktop apps and online services have since been updated to make collaboration more of a core priority. Microsoft is also offering a free trial of Office 2016 if you are interested in giving it a test run. However, with 2016 version, Office 365 would be a changed work ecosystem. Office 2016 will be based on Continuum, which means you will be able to work on the same doc using your PC, laptop, tablet and mobile apps.

In addition, new Office 365 solutions include Office 365 Planner – designed to help teams organise their work, with the ability to create new plans, organise and assign tasks, set due dates, and update status with visual dashboards and email notifications.

The search function is also improved.

The subscription also offers extras like 1TB of OneDrive space and 60 minutes of Skype credit per month. The new suite is also available to buy for a one-off fee from today. GigJam provides a new means for teams to accomplish tasks by eliminating the barriers among devices and apps.

New multi factor authentication features will allow secured access to content anywhere when you’re away from the corporate network.

That could be the impetus behind a promotion Microsoft announced Tuesday: people who have Windows 10 on their computer but are still running Office 2010 or earlier can now get a one-year Office 365 Personal subscription for US$35.