Microsoft Office 2016 preview released, features apps

Microsoft has released the Microsoft Office 2016 preview claiming that it has transformed Office from a suite of desktop applications to a complete, cross-platform, cross-device solution for getting work done. The company mentions in an official statement "Following the expansion of Office footprint to iPad and Android tablets that resulted in 80 million downloads across the globe, Microsoft upgraded Office experiences on the Mac, the iPhone and on the web."

If the company is to believed, it even added new apps to the Office family with Sway and Office Lens. All designed to make keep work moving, everywhere. Besides, the Office 2016 will offer new security, compliance, and deployment features, giving organizations more control over sensitive data and IT more flexibility in deployment and management. Following the IT Pro and Developer Preview for the 2016 release of our Office desktop apps on Windows in March this year, Microsoft is now ready to take feedback from a broader audience and has expanded the Office 2016 Preview, making it available to Office users everywhere in preparation for general availability in Fall 2015. Office 2016 previewers will get an early look at the next release of Office on Windows desktop, but more importantly they’ll help to shape and improve the future of Office. Visit the Office 2016 Preview site to learn more about the Preview program.

Microsoft in its official blog said: "We’ve been in private preview with Office 2016 for several months. Now we’re ready to expand the program to our commercial Office 365 customers, an important milestone that gives IT pros and developers an opportunity to start testing the upcoming release. To be clear, this early build doesn’t yet contain all the features we’re planning to ship in the final product. However, through the course of the preview, customers should expect to see new features delivered through monthly updates."

New features in the Office 2016

·         Your documents, anywhere—Across the Office 2016 applications, it’s easier to use the power of feature-rich applications to create, open, edit and save files in the cloud from your desktop, so you can access them from anywhere and on any device. In addition, new modern attachments in Outlook make it easy to attach files from OneDrive and automatically configure permission for the recipients—without leaving Outlook. All making it easier to share and collaborate on your work with others.

·         Collaboration—Real-time co-authoring is available in the Office Online apps today and we’re bringing that experience to the Windows Desktop applications, starting with Word. When you and your team are working in Word 2016 and/or Office online, you’ll be able to see where other editors are working and what they are writing—all in real-time.

·         Smart Applications—Applications will learn as you work, taking advantage of subtle cues and clues to help you stay on task and get more out of Office. Tell Me, a new search tool available in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, serves up the commands you need by simply typing what you want to do. Clutter—a new Exchange feature that lights up in Outlook—uses machine learning to analyze your email patterns and de-clutter your inbox by moving lower priority messages out of your way and into a new Clutter folder. And Insights, powered by Bing, finds you contextual information from the web within the reading experience.

Download here the Microsoft Office 2016 Preview.