14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has released a new Office for Mac insider preview that allows participants in its beta program to try out new improvements ahead of everyone else.
Available for insiders in the slow ring, this new Office for Mac build bumps the version number to 16.12.180401 and includes new features for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
First and foremost, Microsoft says it has improved sharing and collaboration, as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are getting options for locally-synced OneDrive documents, workbooks, and presentations to open directly from the cloud. This means that auto-saving, sharing, and collaboration features are enabled by default, making it easier for several users to edit data at the same time.
Calendar improvements in Outlook
Additionally, Microsoft claims it’s also faster to add visual impact to a document in Word, Excel, PowerPoint in Outlook thanks to options to insert and edit Scalable Vector Graphics (SVGs). This feature is already available on Android, though editing options are not being offered here. On iOS, Office users can only edit SVG images that were inserted in documents on another platform.
The calendar has also received a refresh in Outlook, and users can now click a meeting or event to see all the included details. These include people invited to a meeting, as well as options to edit user responses or quickly join the meeting.
And last but not least, Microsoft Outlook is being updated with easier scanning of search results. “Ever tried searching for a word or name, and wished Outlook would highlight your search term in the item list or Preview pane? Well, wonder no more,” the company explains.
While these features are currently part of the Insider program, they should become available to all Mac systems in the coming weeks when the testing comes to an end. Some, however, are only available for Office 365 subscribers.