Microsoft recently made available the Office 2016 Preview, which will allow the tech giant to make improvements on the software suite in time for its Q3 2015 release.
"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," Office marketing team general manager Jared Spataro wrote in the Office Blogs on Monday.
"Office 2016 Preview is still a work in progress, and while not all of the features we expect to ship in the fall are available for use now, new features will be added every month," he added.
Spataro then went on to outline the different features of the Office 2016, such as easier and faster software navigation and response as well as data analysis, real-time co-authoring, the search tool Tell me, a new Exchange feature called Clutter, and the web tool Insights. He also mentioned some of the Office 2016's new security, compliance, and deployment features for enterprise IT solutions which makes deployment and management easier.
For those who want to download the Office 2016 Preview, please click here.
So far, reviews of the Office 2016 via the preview have been positive regarding user interface.
For Office 365 subscribers, the Office 2016 Preview is currently available only to with an Office 365 ProPlus client license. Just click on the "Try the next version of Office on the software page. Microsoft will add availability of the Office 2016 Preview to other plans in a future update.
To use the Office 2016 Preview, users need to uninstall their current Office suite and download the Preview online. They will be on the Office 2016 Preview track until the Office 2016 Preview is uninstalled or until Office 2016 is released.
Plans to turn the Office into a platform for more developers were unveiled at Microsoft Build Conference. Microsoft said it will bring new open APIs to Office 365, allowing "developers to develop new integrated experiences that enhance productivity."
Originally, Office 2016 was expected to be released ahead of Windows 10, which in turn, is expected to debut between July and October.
With the Office 2016 Preview, Microsoft is empowering the users to have a say in the whole Microsoft productivity suite experience.
Join the Conversation