For many Mac users, Office for Mac has become an indispensable suite in their toolset through the years. If you’re wondering about the history of Office for Mac and all the different types, read on to find out more.
Office 2001
When Office 2011 emerged the first time, it was a game changer for many users. Like the newer versions, this one came with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Entourage, and Excel. Since it was released in 2000, which was 18 years the interface of Office 2001 apps isn't as functional and beautiful like in the modern versions.
However, Word and PowerPoint were two main apps that were used the most. Word now came with a completely reworked dictionary that provided not only spelling for words, but also meanings.
Word 2001 also supports word count, which is a number that you see in the lower left corner. This allows you to perfectly tailor your article to a number of words you need. Users could now create, edit, and display their presentations in PowerPoint 2001.
This version of software came with nice-looking templates, and since the system requirements were low, the templates and backgrounds were minimalistic, compared to modern PowerPoint software. Still, it was a revolutionary product at that time.
Excel 2001 came with the list manager, formula calculator, and autocomplete feature which was brand new at the time. This allowed the users to take advantage of Excel’s smart prediction and let it fill in the sheet without having to type the word completely. These features made Excel 2001 one of the best software for this purpose.
Entourage was an app that features to-do list, email, address book, and a calendar – all in one! This app was also improved and renewed in Office 2008, which is the next mention on our list.
Office 2008
Office 2008 is one of the most popular software suites for Mac OS. This version of Office is also known for being the last one to include Entourage, which was later replaced by Outlook in Office 2011. However, this software suite kept all the great apps, including Entourage, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel.
Word 2008 was an app that didn't see much change from its predecessor. Word 2007 and Word 2008 were almost identical, but that's not a bad thing since the 2008 version comes with tons of awesome features. These features include new templates, comprehensive dictionary, and fantastic ease of use.
But, Excel 2008 exceeded everyone's expectations. It became ultimate chart-building software with the ability to calculate complex formulas and implementing them in the charts. With a total of 17.18 billion cells that can be handled in Excel, this software quickly became the pinnacle of functionality and reliability.
Once again, PowerPoint came with the well-known Smart Art graphics. These graphics allowed the software to turn any kind of bulleted list into a flowchart or diagram with just a few clicks.
Entourage became more accessible and easy to use, thanks to great emailing capabilities, as well as numerous email filters, to-do lists, calendars, and much more. Microsoft also included their Messenger for Mac, which is a free messaging app.
Unfortunately, this app wasn’t that popular and was quickly discontinued. Office 2008 saw great sales on both Windows and Mac.
Office 2016 represents a crucial incarnation of a well-known Microsoft Office bundle. 2016’s office is known as some of the most popular out there, boasting reworked Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, and PowerPoint apps.
Consisting of the apps mentioned above, the whole software package is known to bring some of the most advanced features users have ever seen.
The first main feature of Office 2016 was support for Retina displays.
This meant that users could easily access their documents and data using only their fingers like we now see on the smartphones.
For Mac, this implementation was far more crucial, as Mac laptops use Retina displays for increased convenience and touchscreen feature. Thanks to the swift and easy-to-use interface on Mac OS, users can now take advantage of pinch-zoom, various gestures, full-screen mode, and much more.
Apps that were most popular with this version are Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. Outlook 2016 comes with a feature that lets you unify your accounts. Thanks to its renewed interface, you can now see emails from different accounts in a single view, without having to log out, and then log in into your other account.
PowerPoint came with lots of new templates, fonts, and themes, while Word remained easy to use and very intuitive when it comes to writing and proofreading your documents. All in all, Office 2016 remains one of the most popular Office versions, even now when we have Office 2019, which we’ll talk about later.
At this very moment, Office 2019 is the newest addition to the lineup. If you want an ultimate Office experience, Office 2019 is here to bring you staggering performance and visuals, all in the same package! This software suite comes with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Access, Publisher, and Visio. While the improvements over Office 2016 aren’t that obvious at a first glance, Microsoft did their best to give you a reason to buy it.
Excel now comes with powerful new data analysis features. They include charts, enhancements to PowerPivot, and new formulas. On the other hand, Word and Outlook saw massive improvements. Features like Read Aloud, and Text Spacing will really help you engage with your content and bring your creative skills to a whole new level.
PowerPoint comes with a whole new set of templates and charts, as well as improved old features that are already great. Aside from the improved workflow, Office 2019 also saw significant improvements in graphical fidelity, and interface design.
Thanks to the modern and intuitive design, working with any software in Office 2019 represents a real enjoyment.
Office 2019 also comes with Office 365 ProPlus, which is a cloud-connected version Office. Cloud computing represents a significant step towards greatness, and with Microsoft’s smart inclusion of Cloud space, Office 2019 is surely a notable mention.