Microsoft launches new edition of its Office suite with many collaboration tools across platforms

25th September 2015
Microsoft  launches  new edition of its Office suite  with many collaboration tools across platforms
From left: Karan Bajwa-, MD, Microsoft, Tylor Bryson, GM, Marketing & Operations and Alok Lall, Director, Digital & Social media marketing at the launch of Office 2016 in Delhi this week

New Delhi, Sept. 25, 2015:   Microsoft has launched the next iteration of its office suite -- Office 2016 -- in India, simultaneously with the global announcement on Wednesday. 
It will be available as a stand alone product in the 'old'way -- in various editions  priced from Rs 5999 for  a one-time purchase for home and student  to Rs 33,911, for the top-of-the-line  professional/business flavour. But interestingly this is not being pushed so much as Microsoft's recent cloud-based subscription model -- Office 365,  for which the latest Office would be just another update, indeed they are calling them Office 2016 apps!  For one PC plus one tablet this comes to Rs 3299 for a year.
Says Karan Bajwa, Managing Director, Microsoft India: “We live in a world where infinite devices and data are vying for our finite time and attention. Today, with the launch of Office 2016weendeavor to provide our users with a connected set of apps and services designed for modern working and collaboration which they can access easily and across devices.”
The Office 2016 apps  to give it the name favoured by Microsoft, is made for running with  Windows 10,  the new Microsoft OS that is just coming into use  as free upgrades for most legacy users of Windows 7 and 8.  New addition Windows Hello logs you into Windows 10 and Office 365 in one  step, integrating  OS and app even more tightly.
One of the new Office apps is Sway  which allows users to combine text and media to create a presentable website.
Other  promised Office 2016  features  include :

  • Tell Me helps you quickly find the right Office feature or command,
  • ​​Smart Lookup bring insights from the web right into your documents.
  • New modern chart-types  for Excel
  • Features which let you work on a doc on one device and continue editing it on another.
  • Co-authoring is now provided inWord, PowerPoint and OneNote desktop software, including real-time typing in Word that lets you see others’ edits as they make them.
  • Skype in-app integration across the Office Online and rich client apps allowsyou to IM, screen share, talk or video chat right in your docs.
    The new Office 2016 apps are available today in 14 languages in India and 47 languages across the world and require Windows 7 or later. Starting today, Office 365 subscribers can choose to download the new Office 2016 apps as part of their subscription. Automatic updates will begin rolling out to consumer subscribers next month.

Satya Nadella's blog on the launch
More information is available    here  

IndiaTechOnline will share its take on the new Office, once  we have had a chance to try it out.