Yesterday, Microsoft announced that the preview of Office 2016 for Mac is now available for trial. In a blog post introducing the new cloud-based Office, Kirk Koenigsbauer, Corporate VP for the Office 365 Client Apps and Services team called it "another proof point of our commitment to cross-platform support and a consistent experiences across devices. Unmistakably Office, but thoughtfully designed for the Mac."
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| Source: Navigation pane for Word. |
The experience for the new Office is similar to the recent announcement of universal Office apps for Windows 10, and takes advantage of the unique features of the Mac. The new apps offer full retina display support and full screen views.
The new Office 2016 for Mac includes updated versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook. The user experience has been modernised in order to enable users to get things done more easily. In Word, for example, a design tab helps users to manage layout, colours and fonts across a document, and the navigation pane refines document structure. Threaded comments are new and provide more context for editing.
The full product release will be available later this summer (Editor's note: roughly June to August) and current Office 365 subscribers will be able to get the new Office 2016 for Mac at no cost when it becomes available.
Read Microsoft's blog post here. Get the preview here. Feedback is invited.
