When Microsoft began releasing
its Windows operating systems, one version after the other over the years, it
has managed to pack as many applications both useful and fun that work
splendidly with its OS platform. Among these apps is the Microsoft Office
suite, their own take on already-existing suite programs for word processing,
spreadsheet and databases. But Microsoft’s bundle would steadily eclipse them
all as the millennium turned, and even in Windows 10 the Office suite is still
an integral component, long updated and fleshed out in functions with every new
edition. The latest changes are being teased by Microsoft.
The Verge has it that Microsoft has started previewing the new look
for Microsoft Office 365 and its component apps, primarily in terms of a classy
new user interface (UI) to greet Windows 10 users aiming to write documents or
compute spreadsheets. These are the results of design team efforts that started
no less than two years ago. The upcoming fruits of the redesign were laid out by
Jon Friedman, the Research and Design Executive VP for Microsoft, with the
keyword for the changes being “focus.” The fact that the Office 365 apps will be
sporting new icons for a start is a great indicator.
While features such as dark mode are
expected, one that really draws the eye is the overhaul of the Office app
window ribbon, the toolbar with buttons for various processing functions
depending on the app being used. The ribbon can now be moved around the app window,
keeping itself compact and reacting to “contextual commands” so that only command
buttons relevant to the user’s current activity will show as needed. A
prototype of this ribbon was first seen on Microsoft Office 2007, but this is
the furthest the concept has ever been taken so far.
Some of the “Focus” upgrades to
Microsoft Office 365 include greater visual oomph, such as with Excel utilizing
multi-colored graphs and pie charts. This app can even alert the user if their
spreadsheet formula has errors. The suite even includes greater
interoperability to enable Microsoft’s smart assistant Cortana to help out in
managing Office documents particularly if they are related in a single unified
project. Finally, the UI and other additions to Office 365 will be uniform
across all versions from desktop to mobile. There has been no sure date yet on
when the changes will be implemented, though it appears to be done as a gradual
evolution of Office 365 suites on all Windows 10 installations in the future.
Image courtesy of PC World
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