After
describing the next version of Windows on Wednesday, Microsoft on Thursday
unveiled the next versions of Office: Office for Windows 10, and the standalone
Office 2016 desktop suite.
Microsoft
said that the Office for Windows 10 apps, like their counterparts on iOS and
Android, would be free to use on phones and small tablets -- no Office 365
subscription required, apparently. And more importantly, they'll be available
as part of the Technical Previews of Windows 10 that Microsoft is publishing "in
the coming weeks," the company said.
Office
2016 will be likely designed for businesses and cost extra, but Microsoft isn't
saying how much. The desktop productivity suite will ship in the second half of
this year -- yes, 2015, despite the Office 2016 name.
When
Microsoft executives demonstrated Windows 10 for phones at the Wednesday event,
they referred to Word as "universal" Word. Julia White, the general
manager of Office, also used that terminology in a blog post describing the new
apps. And indeed, they look much the same as the superlative Office for iPad
Microsoft launched last year.
"They
are designed from the ground up to run on Windows 10, built for touch and offer
the unmistakable Office experience you know and love," White wrote.
"As ‘universal' Office apps, they truly are the same app across device
size, providing a consistent way for independent software vendors and
developers to extend and integrate with Office apps."
Why
this matters: It's time for Windows devices to receive the same Office love as
the Android and iOS platforms. One of my questions at this point, however, is
how Microsoft will tie to services (if at all) to Office 365. Will O365
strictly be a desktop play?
The same but different
The
new Windows 10 apps do appear to be slightly different than their counterparts
on other platforms, however. In his presentation, for example, Joe Belfiore
showed off how the Office "ribbon" is essentially a separate pane at
the bottom of a phone.
Here's
how Microsoft describes each of the new touch-enabled Office for Windows 10
apps. You'll notice that in each image, the text and images expand or contract
to fill the available space on the phone or tablet. Microsoft calls this
"flow".
Word
for Windows 10: "Review and mark-up documents, then
share your work with others to collaborate in real time. The new Insights for
Office feature (powered by Bing) in Read mode brings additional online
resources like images, web references and definitions right to you in your
reading experience."
In
many ways, the core apps on a tablet look very similar to the Office apps on
the iPad.
Excel
for Windows 10: "Use Excel to create and
update spreadsheets and gain new insights as you analyze data and visualize it
with charts. And new touch-first controls shine in Excel, you won't even miss
your keyboard and mouse when selecting ranges of cells, formatting your pie
charts or managing your workbooks."
PowerPoint
for Windows 10: "Create and edit beautiful
presentations with PowerPoint. Then use Presenter View to prepare and present
with confidence, even use Ink Tools to annotate your slides in real time so
your audience really knows what you are talking about."
OneNote
for Windows 10: "Getting things done with
your friends, classmates and colleagues has never been easier with shared
notebooks–now with the consistent Office ribbon experience."
One
note on OneNote: The Metro version of OneNote lacks the "recording"
capability, which the desktop version includes. That's a handy way to type
notes in a meeting and record it at the same time -- and the
audio is keyed to your notes, and vice versa.
Outlook
Mail and Outlook Calendar for Windows 10: "Crafting
emails has never been easier or more powerful, with the familiar and rich
capability of Microsoft Word built into the authoring experience. Simply insert
tables, add pictures and use bullets and color to get your point across. Keep
up with your inbox with new touch gestures that help you read, sort, flag and
archive your mail."
The
last bit refers to the swiping gestures that Microsoft showed off at the Windows Phone presentation.
As
for Office 2016 proper, it looks like Microsoft is saving those details for
another time. Can we all leave Redmond now, Microsoft, or are there other
surprises in store?
This
story, "Microsoft announces Office 2016 suite, touch-enabled Office for
Windows 10 apps" was originally published by PCWorld.
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