Office 2016 for Mac now available for Office 365 subscribers

Microsoft today announced that the Mac version of Office 2016 is now available to all Office 365 subscribers. Office 2016 is the first major upgrade to Office for Mac since 2010, when Microsoft released an OS X compatible version of Office 2011.

The suite includes new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, all of which have been brought in line with Office for Windows in terms of design and functionality. The new apps also feature Mac specific capabilities such as multi-touch trackpad gestures, and optimisation for Retina displays and full screen view.

Other new features include advanced document sharing tools, improved cloud connectivity, and co-authoring support that allows several people to work on a document simultaneously.

Microsoft ran a public preview for Office for Mac starting in March this year, and collected over 100,000 pieces of feedback from beta testers. The company said this was its largest Office for Mac beta to date, and claims to have added in several new features based on user recommendations, such as an improved version of Mail Merge.

Office 2016 for Mac will be sold as a standalone product from September this year. Currently, the only way to gain access to the new suite is via an Office 365 subscription.