Microsoft Office 2016 To Hit Windows And Mac OS X This Year

Microsoft is preparing to launch its full Office 2016 suite later this year, coming to Windows 10, 8 and 7, alongside Mac OS X.

The full productivity suite will offer more than its touch-screen counterparts and will include “compelling new experiences.” According to Office marketeer Julia White. White confirmed Office 2016 would work best on a keyboard and mouse, rather than the touch-controls integrated into Office for mobile and tablet.

A good portion of the work on Office over the past four years has been focused on mobile adoption, launching an iPad, Android and Windows Phone applications for Word, Powerpoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook and a new presentation app called Sway.

However, Microsoft has not forgot about the PC, the place where it makes the most revenue back on the Office 365 suite. The full suite will be available on Mac and Windows later this year, most likely with a subscription fee.

White did not go into detail about price points, but it might simply be an update to Office 365 with the same subscription fee. Microsoft recently dropped the price of admission on iPhone, to bolster downloads, but has not done the same elsewhere.

Microsoft released a ‘Work and Play’ bundle in 2014 as well, dedicated to bundling all of Microsoft’s subscriptions to Xbox Live, Xbox Music, Office 365 and Skype Unlimited World and Wi-Fi for $199 (£132).

Reports said Microsoft could be eyeing up another large bundle, this time including Windows 10 customer support, however this has not been verified.

Office is still one of the most used services on the planet, but free productivity suites from Apple, Google and Libre are starting to change that. Education and workplaces are moving to Google Docs to cut corners on price, and Microsoft needs to make sure Office 365 is still relevant in 2015.