Microsoft has officially announced that Office 2019 has exited preview, and the latest version of the world’s most popular suite of productivity applications is now officially available.
For both Windows and macOS.
This is, obviously, a one-time release, meaning no new features will be added to this iteration of Office and users will stick with the current lineup of features until the next major release — unlike the subscription-based Office 365 that gets updated round the clock.
Or, well, every month.
Office 2019 is a throwback to the classic way of distributing software, and is available today for commercial volume license customers. Everyone else, consumers and commercial partners will get this release in the next few weeks.
Essentially, this new version contains all the improvements Microsoft has made to the Office 365 ProPlus in the last three years. But Redmond has promised that it will continue to invest in this version of the suite, with a successor to the version launched today already planned.
As the company explains:
“Office 2019 is a valuable update for customers who aren’t yet ready for the cloud. And each time we release a new on-premises version of Office, customers ask us if this will be our last. We’re pleased to confirm that we’re committed to another on-premises release in the future.
While the cloud offers real benefits in productivity, security, and total cost of ownership, we recognize that each customer is at a different point in their adoption of cloud services. We see the on-premises version of Office as an important part of our commitment to give customers the flexibility they need to move to the cloud at their own pace.”
Sounds good.
And in case you were wondering, despite Office 2019 offering support for macOS, key programs like Project, Vision, Access and Publisher are exclusive to the Windows platform. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, are available to everyone, and so is OneNote.
In terms of new additions, we have a dark theme for Microsoft Word, a new Focus Mode, a new translator, and some accessibility features like the Read Aloud function.
4K video exports for PowerPoint have also made the cut, along with support for other image formats like SVG and 3D models. It also gets a new roaming pencil case, along with morph transitions. Excel has been updated with funnel charts, timelines, 2D maps and a few other functions.
Worth a mention that on the Windows side of things, Office 2019 will only work with Windows 10.
All Comments