Microsoft launches new suit of office applications-Office 2016

Microsoft yesterday globally launched its new suite of office applications - Office 2016 - which could spell the end of email as we know it.

It would also take Google's collaborative apps that run inside a browser.

"We set out to make working together easier and more impactful by building a suite of integrated apps and services that removes barriers and empowers teams to do and achieve more," Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Office Client applications and services team, said in a blog on the occasion.

MS Office is used by over 1.2 billion people for simple word processing and personal finances, to powerful number crunching at large enterprises today.
 
The new Office features a 'share' button on top-right corner of the screen which allows the user to share rights, permission for editing the file and share a message along with the file. The file can be used by multiple users with effects showing in real time.

Microsoft had also solved the cross-platform problem as all the users need not use the app itself rather they can open the file in a browser-based version of the app.

The only limitation came in the form of the user requiring to host or save the shared files in OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage service

Sharing of the files is not possible if they are on the local drive of the user.

Interestingly, with the new Office, users would also be able to interact with all the other users they had shared the file with via Skype if they were available on the app.

Additionally, though the new Office was cloud-based, Microsoft had allowed the software to sit on the local computer's hard disk or memory to let users to take full advantage of all the new options available in the software suite.

"Along with Office 2016 for Windows, today we are also releasing Office 2016 for Mac as a one-time purchase option, along with several new and enhanced Office 365 services," Koenigsbauer said.

According to Microsoft, Office 2016 brought new versions of desktop apps for Windows including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook and Access and allowed people to collaborate and work together.

''These latest innovations take another big step forward in transforming Office from a familiar set of individual productivity apps to a connected set of apps and services designed for modern working, collaboration and teamwork,'' chief executive Satya Nadella said in a statement.

In July, Microsoft launched its much-awaited Windows 10 operating system which would work across laptops, desktop and smartphones, as part of Nadella's push recovering lost ground in the tablets and mobile arena.