Microsoft Announces New Mac Editions of Office and Outlook
Microsoft understands that Mac people have just as much work to get done as its Windows PC owners do. So, as it’s done for the past umpteen years, the company has announced that it will again bring its latest Office suite of programs for spreadsheets, word processing, email, and more to Apple’s line of computers.
But not until next year.
The company wrote in a blog post Friday about its plans to bring the successor to Office 2011 for Mac, which will include Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote, sometime in the second half of 2015. Its popular email software program, Outlook, is being released now, ahead of the pack, available for download by Office 365 subscribers.
Microsoft’s pay-by-the-month 365 program, starting at $6.99, allows subscribers to download and install the latest versions of Office software to PC and mobile devices, as well as access its tools online from any Web browser. The company also sells stand-alone software packages of Office for desktop the old fashioned way, with the full version starting at $219.
Other than promising that “you will like what you see” in the upcoming Outlook for Mac update, no other details were given. Though, if the new Outlook is any indication, the rest of the Office package will essentially mirror the look and feel of the latest Windows version, Office 2013.
(Microsoft)
The list of new features baked into the latest Outlook for Mac include faster overall performance, a cleaner and more Windows-y look, real-time email delivery with Office 365 push support, and enhancements in mail category/color organization sync between Mac, Windows, and Outlook Web Access clients.
If you’re planning on installing the new Outlook for Mac today, you’ll need to first uninstall the Office 2011 version. Microsoft explains how to do that in this help article.
So as long as your work computer isn’t hamstrung by some Type A IT department, get on that pretty new email software update. And then get back to work!
Have questions, comments, or just want to tell me something funny? Email me at danbean@yahoo-inc.com.
