Microsoft Office for Mac finally catches up with Office 2016 preview

IMAGE: MASHABLE, CHRIST

It's about time. Microsoft Office for Mac is getting its first major update in years.

The company rolled out on Thursday preview versions of the new Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote and Outlook for Mac — the first time the Office suite for Mac has had a new release since 2011.

Better yet, Microsoft said that from now on, Office for Mac will be updated as regularly as Windows.

"This will be the first time Office for Mac is updated on a regular basis like Office 365 is today," Jevon Fark, Microsoft's consumer marketing manager, said. "We're talking about new features, functionality, as long as you're an Office 365 subscriber."

Those who aren't subscribers will still be able to use the Office apps for free during the preview period, but will need an Office 365 subscription or perpetual license once they become generally available later this year.

With Office for Mac for 2016, Microsoft will finally bring the apps' features to the same level as the existing Windows and mobile apps. Word and Powerpoint, for example, will get the same real-time collaboration features that Windows users have had for some time. This means multiple people will be able to contribute to, and have conversations within, a single document in real-time.

The preview version of Word in Office for Mac 2016.

IMAGE: MICROSOFT

On the Excel side, Microsoft is adding new statistical functions for power users. For those accustomed to using Excel on Windows, it revamped the shortcut keys so the same shortcut keys in Windows will also work in Mac (existing Mac shortcuts will continue to work, as well.)

The new Presenter View in in Powerpoint.

IMAGE: MICROSOFT

Powerpoint users will also have access to the same Presenter View as Windows. The feature allows presenters to see the current slide, the upcoming slide, notes and a timer, while viewers only sees the current slide.

Microsoft said its Office preview versions are close to what the software will look like when it becomes generally available some time this summer. As with previous early releases, however, the company is asking for feedback during the preview period. Those who don't want to wait can check out the previews on Microsoft's website.

Updated March 5, 2015 at 11:20 a.m PT to clarify the Office apps will be free during the preview period, but will require an Office 365 subscription or perpetual license once they become generally available.

The 10 best features of the Microsoft Office for Mac preview in GIFs

Microsoft is finally fixing the Office for Mac suite.

The company took the first step toward a very long-overdue update to Office for Mac with the launch of the Office for Mac 2016 preview. The latest versions of Word, Excel and Powerpoint mark the first major update to the Mac lineup since 2011.

The new apps aim to bring the Mac versions up to par with their Windows counterparts in both design and functionality. As with other releases, Microsoft is using the preview period to get feedback on the software before pushing out the final release this summer.

Being a preview, the apps aren't perfect but Microsoft tells us it expects the feature set will remain mostly unchanged and the user feedback will go toward making more minor tweaks and bug fixes. We've been testing out the new Office apps for several days now and can confirm they are a huge improvement.

We highlighted our 10 favorite features of the Office for Mac apps below — in GIFs (because everything is better in GIFs, right?)

And if you're curious about taking the preview for a spin yourself, you can download the apps from Microsoft'swebsite. The suite is completely free while in preview (but will require an Office 365 subscription or perpetual license once they are formally released.)

• 1. Full-Screen View Support

  It seems obvious but the new Microsoft Office apps are all optimized for Yosemite, which means full-screen view support. (The apps also support retina displays.)

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• 2. Redesigned Ribbon

  Microsoft completely redesigned the ribbon in all the Office apps to make the experience closer to that of Windows users.

  With the new ribbon, functions are nested in the same menus as their Windows (and iOS) counterparts.

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• 3. Document Sharing

  The new Microsoft Office apps make it really easy to share documents. A share menu in the top right corner of the apps allows you to share files as attachments or links and control who gets editing privileges.

  If someone shares a document with you via link you can open the document directly from your email.

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• 4. Threaded Conversations

  When you share a document with a collaborator, you can now have threaded conversations within comments in Word and Powerpoint. It's not quite as good as Google Drive's (instead of updating conversations in real time it shows notifications for new updates) but it's a big improvement and a feature that has been missing from the Mac version of the apps for too long.

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• 5. Excel Formula Builder

  The latest version of Excel has a new formula builder, meant to make it easier to use Excel's formula functions.

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• 6. Powerpoint Transitions

  The latest version of Powerpoint has a huge number of transitions available. There's also a separate panel for managing all the animations within your presentation.

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• 7. Powerpoint Presenter View

  A feature that will likely be a godsend for anyone who frequently presets with Powerpoint, the Mac app now comes with a dedicated "presenter view."

  This allows the presenter to see the entire slide deck, note, and a timer, while an external display beams the current slide to the audience.

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• 8. Removable Palettes

  All formatting and editing palettes are removable in the new Office apps.

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• 9. OneNote Tags

  Microsoft's new OneNote for Mac has a new tagging function that makes it easy to quickly categorize notes by topic.

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• 10. Outlook Conversations

  Outlook allows you to sort your inbox by conversations (as well as date, attachments, priority level and a number of other categories.)

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Microsoft unveils universal Office apps for Windows smartphones and tablets

Those shiny new Microsoft Office apps are finally coming to Windows smartphones and tablets.

Microsoft revealed its new universal Office apps for Windows Phones and tablets Friday. When the apps become available later this month, it will be the first time Windows Phone users have had dedicated apps for Word, Excel and Powerpoint that closely resemble their desktop counterparts.

In keeping with Microsoft's Windows 10 strategy, the new tablet and phone apps are universal, meaning they share the same code base though there are differences in the user interface to account for different screen sizes.

On the phone side, the apps look and feel similar to their Android and iOS counterparts. One change Microsoft says is particularly significant though is shifting many of the commands and controls to the bottom of the display in order to squeeze as much one-handed productivity out of them as possible.

Likewise, the tablet apps are optimized two-handed activities: reading, marking up documents with a stylus and more expansive gestures. Those who have hybrid devices — like Microsoft's Surface — that have both touchscreen displays and mouse and keyboard functionality, will be able to run either the tablet or desktop version of the apps, though Windows will default to desktop apps for devices with screens larger than 10 inches.

IMAGE: MASHABLE, LUKE LEONARD

Microsoft released the touch-friendlydesktop versions of the Office apps earlier this year, and Microsoft saysthese apps "will offer our richest feature set ever for professional content creation," when they are officially released later this year.

As with other Office releases, the new Windows Phone and tablet apps will first appear as preview versions, meaning you'll need the Windows 10 Technical Preview installed on your phone or tablet. Despite the preview label, Microsoft says major feature changes are unlikely, and most user feedback will go toward stability improvements and bug fixes.