Windows grabs a huge deal of attention, of course – and Windows 10 has been generating a predictable media storm, particularly since this is a vital operating system to get right for Redmond given the failure of Windows 8.
In Microsoft’s own words, this time around, the company has reimagined the traditional Office experience for a mobile-first, cloud-first world – one where Office 2016 is expected to play an increasingly lesser role compared to Office 365.
Office for Windows 10 will be released in two flavours; one for smaller 8-inch or less tablets and smartphones, and the other for larger tablets, hybrids with touchscreens and the like.
Rumours suggest that Microsoft will add automatic image rotation to Office apps, to help with the positioning of pictures in your documents, as well as additional sync options for its Outlook email client.
Built for Teamwork.
Office 2016 is built for teamwork and the new team collaboration features are really something special. With this update, you can now co-author documents like never before in Word, PowerPoint and OneNote. You can work on a document collaboratively and also see your colleagues working in real time and see their edits as they make them. A very handy feature to have when group-editing documents with such powerful desktop clients such as Word and PowerPoint.
On top of this group editing feature, you can now chat to document collaborators right in the application you’re using with new Skype in-app integration. This allows you to instant-message, talk or video chat right in your documents – no need to switch windows. Skype Meetings also offers HD video and desktop sharing – perfect for chatting with groups when working on presentations, projects and more.
All of this collaboration is now also available on mobile with Office 365 Groups and Office mobile apps being made available on iOS, Android and Windows.
So if your boss calls you up to add or amend a document, you can now download lightweight versions of your apps and edit on the move. This is great as the apps are quick to load and have all theediting features you’ll need whilst on the go.
Office now works for you.
With all these updates, Outlook 2016 now looks to give you lightning fast search, remove low priority mail and make sure everyone has the right access with modern attachments.
A new feature in Outlook called Clutter aims to remove all your unnecessary emails that are clogging up your inbox. For example, those daily emails from that online retailer you subscribed to, they will now be bundled into your Clutter inbox. You can access this folder at anytime and move messages back and forth if you wish and Clutter even sends you a weekly rundown of what has gone in. You can also tell Clutter never to put that type of content in again – giving you full control.
As well as improved search functions in Outlook, they have also improved the most recently used documents function. Before, if you changed device, this information would not travel with you. So you wouldn’t be able to access all your recently opened files. Now, your list travel with you across your devices using OneDrive for Business.
Kieran Dunne tells us. I think one of the challenges people have is getting the full value out of an Office application like Word or PowerPoint, sometimes they don’t know the power of what it can do.”
If you find it hard formatting documents and trying to remember how to carry out functions like text indentation or image shadowing, features you may only use once in a blue moon. Now Office has come up with a solution. That solution is Tell Me.
“Tell Me enables you to access the rich functionality of Office really quickly” says Dunne. With Tell Me, you can simply enter a text command and Office will instantly figure out what needs doing and fix it for you. Want to change font to Arial? Simply enter “change font to Arial” and click on the corresponding command in the Tell Me search bar. Simple.
Smart Lookup attempts to make your life easier by searching the internet, collating information for you based on your commands and then presents all that information back to you in your window. Perfect if you need to research the spelling or definition of a word when writing an important document. Or maybe you need to gather information on a country or city – Smart Lookup will do all of this for you instantly.
Perfect on Windows 10.
On top of all the new features and functionality across iOS and Android. Office 2016 now has extra functionality for Windows 10 users. With this update, when you log into Windows on your computer, that one step automatically logs you into all of your Office applications – no need to remember umpteen passwords on a daily basis.
With the improved mobile apps, you can now use Continuum and Office Mobile apps on Windows 10 phones to use your phone like a PC to view, edit or even present.
Another big update is the security. Office 2016 is the most secure Office ever – with built in data loss protection, and multi factor authentication. This level of security is unrivalled in any packages out there. Perfect if you’re using your Office package for work or sensitive projects.
Remember, Office 365 gets you Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher and a whole lot more – each one packed with heaps of features that are constantly improving and adapting to suit your needs.
