Microsoft Office 2016 is now available for Windows 10

Microsoft has put a focus on team collaboration in its latest update to its desktop apps

MICROSOFT has rolled out its Office 2016 productivity suite for Windows 10 customers, Mac owners and Office 365 subscribers.

 

Microsoft has unveiled its latest version of Office, which rolls out worldwide across Windows 10, Mac and Office 365 subscriptions today.

Office 2016 marks the first major update to Microsoft's best-selling office suite since 2013 – or 2011 if you're a Mac user.

The new version of Office unites the Windows and Mac under the same, modern design and bundles a number of collaborative cloud features.

 

Microsoft is pushing people to take-up the Office 365 subscription model, which allows customers to use the US firm's suite of mobile apps on Apple iOS and Android, as well as its web and desktop apps.

However there are also home and commercial prices for those who prefer to buy the software outright.

The 2016 version of Microsoft Office adds real-time collaboration into the mix.

 

A staple of Google Docs and Apple Pages, the new functionality allows desktop users to collaborate and edit Word documents at the same time, from the other side of the globe.

There is also a new chat app baked into Word which allows team members to keep one another in the loop.

Other applications, including Powerpoint and Excel, will gain similar functionality in a future update.

Other new features in Office 2016 include Groups, bundled as part of Outlook 2016 and in a new Outlook Groups app on iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

Office 365 Groups allow individuals to easily create public or private teams.

 

Office 2016 brings a number of features from Office 365 to the one-time purchase desktop apps

Each group has its own shared inbox, calendar, cloud storage for group files, and a shared OneNote notebook to keep the team productive and on the same page.

A similar feature – dubbed Office 365 Planner – helps teams organise their work, by allowing them to start new plans, organise and assign tasks, set due dates and update status. 

Planner’s visual dashboards and email notifications help keep everyone informed on the overall progress of their initiative. 

Elsewhere Microsoft has simply tightened and improved the experience.

The Redmond firm says it has improved search within Outlook 2016, "delivering lightning fast search, removing low priority mail automatically and making sure everyone on the To: line has the right access to modern, cloud-based attachments from OneDrive."

It also boasts tighter integration with Windows 10 and now allows customers to use Windows Hello to sign-in to Office 365 with a simple look into the webcam.

Office 365 subscriptions start from £5.99 per month. Meanwhile, buying the new software suite outright form Microsoft will set you back a cool £119.99.