Until now, Microsoft has been a bit secretive about how will the Office 2019 look like and what features it will include. From the information that were released we now know that the new Office suite will be based on the same code as Microsoft 365 and will possess the same features that were added to Microsoft 365 since the rollout of Office 2016. Let’s have a look at the upcoming changes and the new features.
New User Interface
Microsoft will unify the look of its apps across platforms as well as their full feature and online versions, so that the user experience is as consistent as possible. The change in Outlook will probably be the most visible as you will be able to adjust the view of your incoming e-mails by conversations, threads, or priority.
Skype for Business
The default communication client in Office 2019 will be Microsoft Teams. The Skype for Business client will be an optional installation but will still be supported – this is important especially for organizations that haven’t yet switched to Microsoft Teams.
New pricing
The new Office suite will have a perpetual license, which means that you can use the program as long as you wish to. To reflect this ‘lifetime’ value of the product, Microsoft decided to increase the price by 10%.
Overview of the new features in the four main apps
| Word | Excel |
|
• Black theme • Office sounds • Learning tools captions and audio descriptions • Text to speech • Improved inking functionality • Accessibility improvements |
• Funnel charts and 2D maps • New Excelfunctions and connectors • Publish Excel to Power BI • PowerPivot enhancements • PowerQuery enhancements |
| PowerPoint | Outlook |
|
• Zoom capabilities for ordering of slides within • Morph transition feature • Insert and manage Icons, SVG, and 3D models • Improved roaming pencil case |
• Updated contact cards • Microsoft 365 Groups* • @mentions • Focused inbox • Travel and delivery summary cards * Requires an Exchange Online account |
Only on Windows 10
Together with a shorter support time of the program (7 years in comparison with the 10 years for Office 2016), Microsoft has also announced that the Office 2019 will only be supported on Windows 10.
There’s no need to panic, though, you can still get the previous version (Office 2016), which is supported on Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10. Choose from our offer of the different Office 2016 editions and save up to 60% of their original price.
Extra tip for Microsoft 365 subscribers:
Already paying for the subscription of Microsoft 365? You should know that Microsoft announced that in two years the program will only be supported on Windows 10. Want to take care of this issue in advance? Get Windows 10 in our e-shop for as low as 49,99 €.