Microsoft has already announced the coming of the latest version of their Office software and the update is expected to launch on September 22. (Photo : Reuters)
Tech giant Microsoft released Office 2016 on Sept. 22 that focused heavily on cloud integration and touch improvements.
The last time the suite received an update was in 2013 and the new 2016 update makes Office more accessible to a wider set of devices.
According to The Verge, Office is not only restricted to desktop PC's or laptops. Microsoft has rolled out several updates in order to integrate the suite to other platforms like smartphones and tablets. For example, users can create a document on the PC version of Office and they can edit it on their tablet or phone. The integration of the cloud service also provides a seamless transition since users are not required to move the files manually anymore.
The 2016 version of Microsoft Excel received a handful of upgrades. Microsoft added six new chart types. There are also a few tweaks on Excel's user interface and visual design. A new gray theme was also added which perfectly suits the dark colored theme of Windows 10.
The Microsoft Word 2016 received one of the biggest upgrade. The word processor now supports real time co-authoring. This is the first time Word on desktop supports this technology. Real time co-authoring allows multiple users to work on a single document at the same time. This feature was previously exclusive on the Web version of Office while Google Docs have been using this feature for quite some time already.
The introduction of real time co-authoring will allow multiple users to see what changes their co-workers are doing in a document at the same time being able to quickly message them on Skype for any particular change they want or do not want to make.
According to MacRumors, Microsoft also announced that it will release Office 2016 to the Mac platform. Interested users can purchase the suite for a one-time fee of $149.99. Office 2016 for Mac will require OS X 10.10 or later versions.
