After unveiling a holographic headset, 84” Surface tablet, Windows 10 and Windows 10 for mobile, Microsoft now is ready to introduce yet another new product. The company finally announced its next office suite – Office 2016.
The U.S. giant shared that its next office pack will be called Office 2016. In that way, it cleared the air on earlier rumours focusing on the name of the suite. We remind you that Office 2016 was often referred to by technology bloggers as “Office 16,” “Office 15” and many others.
A number of screenshots of Office 2016 are already posted online. They clearly show that the new Office package will have a much cleaner and simpler, thus less distracting design compared to its predecessors. Still, apart from that, the menu organization of programs in the suite will remain greatly familiar.
The technology giant added that it will share more information on its next Office suite later this year. Nevertheless, the company did emphasize that Office 2016 will offer a familiar Office experience to users. In addition, although the software will be touch-friendly like its predecessor, the upcoming PC version of the new Office programs will rely on the good old mouse and keyboard. Therefore, Microsoft is aiming at gradual evolution instead of revolution.
However, this does not mean that Office 2016 will not arrive on Windows mobile devices. In fact, at its Windows 10 event, Microsoft shares that consumers using the mobile version of the latest Windows operating system will get Office apps, like Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote, for free. The applications will be pre-installed on all mobile gadgets running on Windows 10. Users relying on an older version of the OS will, too, be able to get the Office apps through the company’s Windows Store.
As it was expected, Microsoft will release Office 2016 in the second half of 2015. It is very much likely that the new office suite will come with a perpetual license. That means that it will not be a subscription service like Office 365. Consumers will only need to pay once in order to download, install, use and update Office 2016.
