Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac is now available in 139 countries and 16 languages.
The new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote “provide the best of both worlds for Mac users—the familiar Office experience paired with the best of Mac,” says Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president for the Office Client Applications and Services team at Microsoft.
If you already use Office on a PC or iPad, you may be familiar with the new (for the Mac) ribbon interface and powerful panes. Office 2015 integrates Mac capabilities like Full Screen view and Multi-Touch gestures. It also offers full Retina display support.
Office for Mac is cloud-connected. New, built-in document sharing tools lets you invite teammates to work on a document together. Office for Mac offers compatibility with Office on PCs, tablets, phones and online.
Word’s new Design tab lets you apply designer-quality layouts, colors and fonts throughout your document. You can work on the same document simultaneously with your teammates and use threaded comments to have a conversation right next to the corresponding text.
The new Excel for Mac helps you visualize your information by recommending charts best suited for your data with chart previews. Familiar keyboard shortcuts, autocomplete and an improved formula builder can save you time when creating spreadsheets or entering data. For deeper analysis, new PivotTable Slicers help you filter large volumes of data and discover patterns.
PowerPoint’s improved Presenter View gives you full control when you present by showing you the current slide, next slide, speaker notes and a timer on your Mac screen, while the audience only sees your presentation on the big screen. The new animation pane helps you design and fine-tune animations; you can use the latest set of slide transitions add polish to your presentations.
The new Outlook for Mac has push mail support to keep your inbox s up-to-date. The improved conversation view automatically organizes your inbox around threaded conversations, so you won’t have to hunt for related messages. And the new message preview shows you the first sentence of an email just below the subject line so you can quickly decide if you want to read it now or come back later.
OneNote is the newest addition to Office for Mac. You can capture your ideas in digital notebooks and access them on any device. You can find things with the OneNote search engine that tracks your tags, indexes your typed notes and recognizes text in images and handwritten notes. You can bold, italicize, underline or highlight notes, insert files, pictures and tables and organize your notes however you want. You can also share notebooks with friends, family or colleagues so everyone can work together on travel plans, household tasks or work projects.
Office 365 subscribers can get the newest version of Office for Mac if you have an Office 365 subscription (Office 365 Home, Personal, Business, Business Premium, E3 or ProPlus), which includes the rights and access to use Office applications on Mac OS X, Windows, iOS and Android devices, along with additional value in OneDrive and Skype. On your Mac, just browse to your account page (office.com/myaccount), sign in and follow the installation instructions.
If you’re a student, you can get Office 2016 for Mac for free or at a substantial discount. Go to office.com/student for more info. Otherwise, go to office.com/mac or buy an Office 365 subscription at your local retailer. Office 2016 for Mac will become available as a one-time purchase option this September.