Tuesday, 26th of September 2017 – Microsoft Ignite from Orlando, Florida announced the imminent arrival of Microsoft Office 2019 (also named Office 17) at the second half of 2018, to succeed Office 16, which was released in 2015. In the latest version of their widely popular productivity suite, new upgrades are coming up for some of our classic programs, and brand new features for are added as technology and the product manufacturers introduce new products into the market.
Microsoft’s new productivity suite is set to show new versions of ‘perpetual’ programs Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and Outlook, along with server versions of Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. Not much has been announced yet regarding the changes to come, but we’ve got you covered on what they dropped at Ignite. Microsoft staple, Excel is set to have new formulas and charts that are set to make data analysis ‘more powerful than ever’. PowerPoint is also set to get some new animation features, such as ‘Morph’ and ‘Zoom’ animations for more pizzazz during your professional presentations.
Arguably, some of the newer features are definitely ground breaking – new features are set to be coming at the IT management front, such as manageability, usability, voice and security. It seems like Microsoft’s goal is to make Microsoft Office a one-stop shop for everything, and eliminating looking for other apps when it comes to running a small business. When you think about it, Microsoft does have an app for everything already, so it’s not surprising at all to imagine what their end goal is.
Newer features aimed for newer devices such as 2-in-1 laptops or the new generation of powerful tablets, are new ‘ink features’ for people who use stylus pens – tilt effects, pressure sensitivity, and ink replay. They’re also planning on allowing you to write notes or draw on documents automatically using your pen, leading to a more personalized experience with the suite.
Everyone is super excited for this, but remember, it’s all expected to ship in mid-2018, so that’s still loads of time to wait for us. If this little teaser has excited you, wait ‘til they drop more announcements in the coming months as they start revolutionizing the productivity suite for the next generation of students, professionals, businesses – the next generation of Microsoft users, as they try to expand and grow the program to evolve together with the rest of the world, and continue to be relevant in the world full of fleeting trends and hashtags. But it’s definitely safe to say that Microsoft Office, since its inception, was meant to be perpetual.