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Microsoft Announces Office 2016 and Office For Windows 10 Coming Later This Year

Posted by samzenpus on from the coming-soon dept.

An anonymous reader writes At its Windows 10 event yesterday, Microsoft unveiled the touch-optimized version of Office. Today, the company offered more details about that version, and then snuck in another announcement: the next desktop version is under development, it is called Office 2016, and it will be generally available "in the second half of 2015." Office for Windows 10 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook), meanwhile, is also slated to arrive later this year, though Microsoft has shared more about it and plans to offer a preview in the coming weeks. These new Office apps will be pre-installed (they will be free) on smartphones and small tablets running Windows 10. They will also be available to download from the Windows Store for other devices.

100 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. No! by MagickalMyst · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I don't want to buy a new computer!

    --
    Political correctness is really just herd psychology pushed by insecure people who desperately seek social conformity.
    1. Re:No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Windows 10 is Windows 8.1 with a Windows 7 Start Menu - it really isn't a big change, so think of it as SP3 (Windows 8.1 was SP1 for Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 Update was SP2). It will be a free upgrade for Windows 8 users, and - given that MS is finally taking its tablet market seriously - is likely to have efficiency improvements rather than bloat.

      I'm still surprised how fast Windows 8.1 works on my low end HP Stream tablet - this isn't the company that brought you Vista any more.

      (Of course, few'll take the Metro interface seriously until there is a method to sideload Metro apps on non-developer machines without shelling out $3000+ for a volume pack of licenses - most economic activity does not take place in enterprise or hobbyist markets, but among small businesses, and MS used to understand this.)

    2. Re: No! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Then don't. No one really needs office 2016 (or even office 2007. Office 2003 still works great, so stick to that if you have it, or if not, Google Docs and/or LibreOffice generally works well enough for home use.

    3. Re: No! by jbolden · · Score: 3, Funny

      Lots of their customers use SharePoint which is a rather large innovation as compared with what your talking about in terms of Office Suites in areas like collaboration. SharePoint is very much like what CVS or GIT provide programmers but even richer.

      Things haven't stayed the same, but where they changed the most is in areas that their bottom rung of users don't notice. By linking more tightly with SharePoint they can easily show how far ahead Office is of the other office suites.

    4. Re: No! by GoddersUK · · Score: 1

      If you just write the occasional letter, yes. If you're a heavy user of general purpose office software then you will notice the benefits of moving off anything pre-2007. While the 2007-2010 and 2010-2013 changes are more incremental I think the 2007-2013 change is definitely worth it for heavy users. I always get the impression people who say things like you probably haven't used a more recent version of Office than 2003 because the changes are substantial and worthwhile. People always go on about how wonderful LibreOffice (or whatever they're calling it these days) and Google Docs are. They're not. They can do the basics but they can't take the semi-pro market like Office can. Sure, if you're typsetting a book use Latex and if you're plotting publication quality scientific graphs use Origin/Sigma Plot/etc. But for everything in between MS Office has no competition.

    5. Re: No! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People always go on about how wonderful LibreOffice (or whatever they're calling it these days) and Google Docs are. They're not. They can do the basics but they can't take the semi-pro market like Office can.

      THIS! I once tried installing LibreOffice on my computer, and my computer self destructed! Melted the damn thing, Before that it inserted "fuck " instead of "and", in every letter I typed. the spreadsheet couldn't add 2+2, then my dog ran away, my wife left me, the lower 40 got accidenatlly planted in Monsanto corn and they sued me, and my milch cows went dry.

      Actually, it has been a few years since I used Microsoft Office.

      Have they solved the cross platform compatibility problems yet? Office isn't even compatible with iteself. Used to spend a lot of time repariing documents and PowerPoints on the Mac that got balled up when coming from the PC side.

      If you are trading files between MS, MAC, and Linux systems, how does Microsoft Office do?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    6. Re: No! by Penguinisto · · Score: 2

      Not to drift too off-topic, but I noticed something WRT Sharepoint...

      In most companies that I've seen, Sharepoint runs the company site that has all the HR and official corporate stuff (schedules, forms, etc), but that's it. Usually only one or two departments take their chunk of it even halfway seriously, while the rest put up some perfunctory content (if they even bother) and ignore it. Individual user content? Unless it's a multinational corp, you won't really see any of that, if at all.

      Meanwhile, in the departments where the developers/sysadmins/engineers live, Confluence and JIRA dominate for content and ticketing, respectively (and before that, basic Wiki pages like TWiki held all the tribal knowledge). Sales departments usually turn to Salesforce, SAP, or similar.

      I'm really not sure if any company uses it any differently outside of Microsoft itself. I think the only reason any organization bothered with Sharepoint in the first place is because the beancounters think it's "free" (nevermind the OS licensing and infrastructure requirements).

      That said, Sharepoint has document versioning, sure... but that's about where the similarities to Git or Subversion end (CVS? Okay maybe, but only because CVS is outdated simplistic crap compared to SVN or Git.)

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    7. Re: No! by Rob+Y. · · Score: 3, Insightful

      LibreOffice has the potential to be fully cross-platform, and it would seem to me to be to Apple's benefit to make it seriously good. The reason iPhones and iPads were able to take off is that the web (and web standards) made it possible to do most of what you do with a computer without that computer having to run Windows. Macs have benefited from that - as well as the fact that the success of the iThings has accelerated the process.

      A successful LibreOffice would be the next step toward making the second biggest use of computers cross-platform. In fact, Microsoft's last best hope for success in mobile lies in the fact that Windows tablets can be bundled with MSOffice. Yes, they're coming out with iOS and Android versions - but that's just a desparation move. The minute Windows mobile devices gain some traction (or the iOS/Android versions outlive their usefulness in some other way), the non-Windows versions will become second-class. But if Libre got really good - and became available (and successful) on mobiles - iOS devices would continue to be able to compete on the merits. You'd think Apple would want to help that happen. Are they still afraid of losing the official MSOffice for the Mac? Google seems to have a difference of opinion about where document processing should happen. Much as a full-featured office suite would make Android laptops a viable - and even attractive - alternative, that doesn't seem to be their priority (though their use of Open Document formats in their online apps is helpful).

      Windows will continue to dominate in the business world. There's just way too much inertia there in terms of third-party apps. But mobile (and, yes, Chromebooks) have demonstrated that the general public doesn't need or particularly want it at home. A cross-platform, full-featured office suite would just solidify that trend.

      --
      Posted from my Android phone. Oh, I can change this? There, that's better...
    8. Re: No! by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      Have they solved the cross platform compatibility problems yet? Office isn't even compatible with iteself. Used to spend a lot of time repariing documents and PowerPoints on the Mac that got balled up when coming from the PC side. If you are trading files between MS, MAC, and Linux systems, how does Microsoft Office do?

      I use Office 2007 on Windows and Office for OSX on the Mac (Maverick). I write technical documents, using plenty of advanced formatting features, for publication using Word, and they render exactly the same in the office and Mac version. That's using the .docx format. So that seems to work well, anyway.

      As far as Linux, there is no MS Office version, and Libre and related systems have formatting issues in both directions.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    9. Re:No! by boskone · · Score: 3, Funny

      wow. umm, I disagree.

      I think Windows 10 is the most important release since I've been in IT (20 years).

      It fundamentally changes what windows is and how users will access technology.

    10. Re:No! by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      All i can say is "its a Lenovo, what did you expect?"

      --
      Good-bye
    11. Re:No! by davester666 · · Score: 1

      What?

      The primary change with Windows 10 seems to be that Microsoft has finally agreed with Apple that a desktop UI must be different from a tablet UI [as in, desktop mode and tablet mode].

      Or maybe the idea that developers can create a single executable that can work equally poorly across a wide variety of device sizes [been there, done that, vast majority of developers either do the UI so it works well for one specific device size and crappy on all others, or so-of-ok across most device sizes]. Nothing about Microsoft's announcement indicates this time it will be different.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    12. Re:No! by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      It fundamentally changes what windows is and how users will access technology.

      That's what Microsoft's been telling us about every new Windows release that has come along since ever. So far, the only thing that's changed is that bluescreens came into being, and then were hidden.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    13. Re: No! by jbolden · · Score: 1

      SharePoint has versioning for Office documents. Git can't meaningfully do that.

      I agree the heavy office users tend to love SharePoint. My experience it is clerical. I've seen it be used heavily for Sales for example where PowerPoint versioning matters (huge collections of decks) or contract management systems are being used. For developers I've seen it used for project documentation (not program documentation). Though the heaviest users are developers who develop for Excel / Office extensions.

    14. Re: No! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      LibreOffice has the potential to be fully cross-platform, and it would seem to me to be to Apple's benefit to make it seriously good.

      I do run a couple networks that consist of LibreOffice on Macs, Linux boxes, and a Windows machine.

      LibreOffice is seamless across all three Os's. Which is more than I can say for PC to Mac in Microsoft Office.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    15. Re: No! by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      Microsoft has to come out with Android and iOS versions of Office. There's just too many Android and iOS users out there, and lots of them are going to do office-type things with them (works best with tablets with keyboards, and you can get lots of different keyboards nowadays). Apple puts office software on iOS devices by default. I haven't checked, but I don't think I can easily remove Keynote, Numbers, or Pages.

      This means that lots of people are going to be using office-type software on their tablets (and sometimes phones). If they have to do this without Microsoft Office, they will, and some of these people are sufficiently powerful to demand that other systems work with their iPad. This means that (a) people in general will realize they don't need Microsoft Office, and (b) Microsoft Office will have to work reliably with other office software.

      Traditionally, a lot of people got Microsoft Office because they needed to do document interchange with Microsoft Office installations. Change that and MS Office turns into a high-end office suite that lots of people have, not the suite everybody needs, and MS Office has to compete seriously with others.

      This is likely at least as important as getting Windows a decent share of the mobile market. MS would have to get a large market share to pull MS Office from Android and iOS - and those devices are not going to simply outlive their usefulness.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    16. Re:No! by toddestan · · Score: 1

      I would say that Windows 8 is the version that tried to fundamentally change what Windows is. It was arguably the biggest change in the user interface since Windows 95, and the whole Metro thing is a whole different way of interacting with the computer. It of course flopped, and all that Windows 10 is (and to a lesser extent, Windows 8.1) is Microsoft making Windows look and act more like it how it was in WIndows 7.

    17. Re: No! by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      You must not be using a semi-recent MS Office, then. Office 2010 and beyond haven't given me any problems, besides occasionally not transferring embedded movies well (but that's more likely to be the fault of the computers I presented on).

      Dunno. I stopped using Office after 2007. To me, continuing to use it would have been like the person who keeps going back to a spouse that beats them senseless a few times a week, but "has completely changed now", so goes back to get beat again.

      The open office suites serve me well, and I have complete and full compatibility no matter what platform I am on. and more options. Considering they still have the Ribbon, I don't even consider MS Office at all.

      I have zero need for Redmond's offerings.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  2. Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    I wonder, if Microsoft will produce anymore a desktop optimized version of Office and or Windows? Those Word screenshots look absolutely horrible. Are they really removing the existing features so that soon the Word is similar to Notepad? Why would I buy a office suite that does not have the features I use, or the features are hidden behind ten layers of ribbons? I bet on next version all the buttons are replaced with hamburger-button, perhaps even the text color is fixed to light gray, so the UX guys almost get the plain white screen they thrive to.

    1. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by bemymonkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Apparently the screenshots in the article are the full-screen "touch" versions. I'd expect the regular versions to have the full ribbons just like 2010 or 2013 (which I've actually grown to like, because they expose keyboard shortcuts for practically EVERYTHING).

    2. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Billly+Gates · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Name one function that was removed since 2003. Just because learning something new is hard doesn't mean something was taken away.

      My opinion maybe unpopular here with a large group of slashdotters but I actually hated the menu in Office 2003 and the silly menus to show more. My worst was the nested menus and options where I needed many mouse clicks to perform tasks.

      The ribbon was talked about and was cool back then in 2004 when MS R&D showed what it could do. Then of course people who were set in their ways whinned when 2007 came out and it and now it is uncool here.

      It took me 1 week back in 2007 to get the hang of it and yes I was a little frustrated at first. :-(

      After 1 month I got it and preferred it over the menus. That was 6 years ago! Today when I go on a coworkers computer with Office 2007 with Outlook which still has menus I am stomped as I do not know where everything else. Does this mean it is now inferior because *I* do not know where something is?

      With ribbons I can preview changes before I make select them. Keyboard shortcuts work better when I hit the alt key. Try it? Office on a laptop with no room with a mouse is so much better as a result with the alt key and the previews.

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
    3. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Richard_at_work · · Score: 1

      You seem to have replied to the wrong poster there...

    4. Re: Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

      Nah. We just use SystemD now to do office work on Linux.

      It just comes with a crappy startup daemon.

      --
      http://saveie6.com/
    5. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I found it kind of amusing that people were convinced the tablet craze was going to pan out any other way than it did the last time.

      Remember the Palm Pilots? The Zire, when Palm realized that a Gameboy-like screen wasn't going to cut it any more? The Sharp Zaurus which could run Linux no less...where did they all go? In the trash bin, that's where. As it turns out there's a reason we're not still trying to type on postage-stamp sized screens like the Osborne 1, it isn't very pleasant. When Osborne announced that the newer models would have a larger screen (among other things), customers were so overjoyed that they held off on buying the Osborne 1 in favour of the Executive. How did that pan out? Sales of the Osborne 1 ground to a halt...right along with the company when they went out of business, about two years after they started.

      The second obvious problem is typing on one of these mobile devices at all...because we're still at the point where the most efficient way to input anything on PC's as we know them now is a mouse and a keyboard. It's an OLD formula, going right back to the Xerox PARC days, but it hasn't changed much...because it really doesn't need to. The most efficient way to type on a tablet is to buy a half-assed, foldout keyboard and type on that instead...just like the old days! When a low-end laptop that can do more than any of the current tablets out there only costs $100 or so more than the tablet itself...what's the point? By the time you've bought everything you need for a tablet that you need to make it as comfortable to use as a laptop...you've spent as much money as you would have on the laptop.

      As if that weren't enough, time has somehow looped back on itself to 1992 and we're talking about virtual reality again! Microsoft has their magical HoloLens, Sony has whatever they have...Nintendo will probably upgrade to waving the entire console at a shoddy motion sensor at some point, Oculus is still out there somewhere but now that they're owned by Facebook nobody really gives a shit. I can't really picture someone donning a VR helmet and trying to immerse themselves in Elder Scrolls XVIII when there's pokes and invites to Mafia Wars popping up in their field of view every fifteen seconds, probably with a nice ad banner across the top and a 30 second, unskippable ad during load times. All of these major companies seem to have convinced themselves that the way to the future is...gimmicky methods of input. Microsoft had their Surface (and still do have them, probably $500 million+ dollars worth of wasted electronics), their wacky-as-hell Windows 8 release that only served to point out how stupid the touch interface idea was to begin with. They had the Kinect, which irked gamers so much that unbundling the thing from the Xbone more than doubled sales of the console in North America. Turns out people don't like an internet connected device staring at them 24/7, with all of the sensory capabilities of some of the drones the US military is buzzing around out there, especially when all it gets you is a shoddy voice interface and flailing your arms around like a goon trying to play anything with it.

      Everything old is new again...and it still fucking sucks. Nowhere better does this show up than in tablet sales, which if you look at some of the figures are dropping like a lead weight...along with the prices of the things in stores, but it's a bit late for that now. People have already clued in...hey, this computer that I bought four years ago running Windows 7 does more than this shitty tablet. I can install what I want on it, I don't have to deal with a terrible interface for typing on the thing and hell, if I don't like the operating system I can replace that too. Imagine that, a computing device that doesn't treat you like an escaped convict. There's roughly about three classes of the typical IBM PC clones out there...gamers, "casual" users who browser around on the Internet, post some Facebook pictures, listen to some MP3's or watch some movies they downloaded from a torrent sit

    6. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by jbolden · · Score: 1

      Billy -

      You are absolutely correct far more useful information shows up with the ribbon than with the menus. The number of menu items increased with the ribbons. Of course what Microsoft really needs to do is make the ribbon even more context sensitive and thus have many times more options than they did with standard menus and really take advantage of the medium. And I suspect that will happen with SharePoint and Azure's web enabled interconnections so that every web application managed though Azure can connect into the office suites.

    7. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Malc · · Score: 1

      Why go back to an old version of Office for that experience? Just install one of the main OSS competitors... it's like Word for Windows 2.0, but worse.

    8. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      My opinion maybe unpopular here with a large group of slashdotters but I actually hated the menu in Office 2003 and the silly menus to show more. My worst was the nested menus and options where I needed many mouse clicks to perform tasks..

      I don't know about popularity, but it is uncommon.

      Microsoft continually makes the mistake of thinking that the main objective in computing is learning new and supposedly improved ways of getting the computer to work.

      Then you come along and declare anyone who doesn't like the changes as "set in their ways".

      If the ribbon actually improved operation, hey, that would be great. Ever sit in a meeting room with 30 execs, and they spend more time futzing with the computer than making their presentation or other meeting work? All of the keyboard shortcuts, all of the presumed superiority goes away when time gets wasted.

      I would propose that Microsoft do what Apple did. Which was to make their version of a Metro screen available (launchpad) Similar, but without the rectangular tiles. That way, the modern thinking progressive computing intelligentsia could use launchpad, while the get off my lawn crowd could stick with their silly old (and bad) menus.

      Then people could choose, right? Having a choice of interface from the manufacturer would seem like a good thing. The user would use what they like best.

      Then you would be happy with the new interface, that olde farte two cubicles down would be happy, Everybody happy, and there ya go.

      And by the way, Launchpad has turned out to be just about as popular as Metro. You just don't hear the complaints because if you don't like it, you just don't use it. And we can't tell the difference between work done with either system, just like you wouldn't with ribbon versus menu.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    9. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by urbanriot · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I was anti-ribbon back in 2007 as well, until I read a blog post by a Microsoft programmer that basically said, "look dummy, every single item you had access to with these cumbersome menus is available on screen." Certainly I wouldn't accept that at face value so I opened up Office 2003 and tried to find an equivalent function I couldn't find in 2007 and in doing that, I realized it really was 'all there' and shortly thereafter became a devout Follower of the Ribbon.

    10. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by nine-times · · Score: 1

      My opinion maybe unpopular here with a large group of slashdotters but I actually hated the menu in Office 2003 and the silly menus to show more.

      I agree. I'm not sure if this is what you're referring to, but the worst thing was that Microsoft actually had a feature where it would hide menu items that you didn't use often. So you haven't inserted a page break in a few months? Well that's disappeared now, and you have to click some button to "show more options" in order to find it. It wasn't so bad if you understood what was going on, but as an IT support professional, I absolutely hated it because I would regularly get phone calls from people complaining that they couldn't find features.

      Ultimately, the ribbon is an improvement. It's compact, and it gives you a lot of options right on the screen, without clicking through a bunch of menus, in a fairly well organized design. I hate Microsoft as much as the next guy, but I think most of the resistance to the ribbon was simply because it was new, and people weren't used to it.

    11. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by jbengt · · Score: 1

      . . . . but I actually hated the menu in Office 2003 and the silly menus to show more. My worst was the nested menus and options where I needed many mouse clicks to perform tasks.

      Couldn't you just have clicked on the buttons in the easily customizable toolbars?
      Or are you only talking about the auto-hiding menu items that popped out after a delay, which is the first thing I turned off whenever I got a new computer/office install.

      Name one function that was removed since 2003.

      There is one big thing that has seriously regressed since Office XP and Office 2003: help was actually good then. I find Google much better at MS Office help than the built-in help function nowadays.

    12. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by jacks+smirking+reven · · Score: 1

      I don't know what 1990s you were living in but in the one I was in I sure wasn't able to own a compelling virtual reality experience for less than $500. All those developers who don't care at all about VR? I don't suppose they're the ones who sold out the Oculus DK2 for months? I know i'm never going to want to check out a HoloLens, the one I got 23 years ago still works just great over my parallel port. Sure there was VR in 1992 but there was also an automobile in 1886, not exactly accurate to say an Acura is just a rehash of an old idea.

    13. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by smooth+wombat · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Except in Microsoft's recent pattern, FINDING those items is much more difficult and less intuitive. What was once a single-click to see all your options from 'View' (for instance), is now a "click and hope" funfest as you meander from ribbon to ribbon trying to come across what you're looking for.

      The layouts are not intuitive, they have moved items from where they used to be, have buried items in sub-entries and it takes longer to accomplish what you want.

      By any measure, that is not an upgrade no matter how many people wish it to be so.

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    14. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      The tablet war is already over (tablet sales are dropping FAST)

      Yea, I wish that were the case. I've been looking for a Galaxy Tab 4 10 inch to replace my aging 9 inch android tablet the price on those things has been going up for the past few months.

      Smaller tablet prices may be coming down, but that's because they're just the wrong size for anything. Too big for your pocket, but too little screen real estate for anything I can't do with my phone.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    15. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by timmyf2371 · · Score: 1

      I remember the joys of Microsoft Office 2003 (and earlier).

      It was great being able to select Paste Special from the Edit Menu and painstakingly selecting the options I wanted. It was so much more intuitive than clicking on the arrow under the paste and quickly selecting the appropriate option.

      Or how it was easier to go into the formatting box when all you wanted to do was to increase or decrease the number of decimal places, compared to the modern way of simply using the correct button on the home tab.

      If you had never used Office prior to 2003, would you instinctively know where to find the option to hide gridlines in Excel? Or that the option to group and outline was under the Data Menu and not the View Menu? I think not.

      If you feel that the ribbon UI is a "click and hope funfest", perhaps you need to spend more time using Microsoft Office and learning where things are. It took me a few weeks back in 2010 and now I fly through the ribbons far quicker than I could hope to find the correct menu.

      --

      Backup not found: (A)bort (R)etry (P)anic
    16. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by praxis · · Score: 1

      "look dummy, every single item you had access to with these cumbersome menus is available on screen"

      That is most certainly not true.

      A counter-example from Word 2010: "Kerning for fonts X Points and above" which is available in the advanced font dialog, as far as I could tell, cannot be added to the ribbon and is not there on a virgin install.

      Which brings me to another point, why is there no search on the customize ribbon UI? Why did I have to select "All commands" and then scroll around stuff that started with "font..." and stuff that started with "kern..." to try to find this command?

    17. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      The layouts are not intuitive, they have moved items from where they used to be, have buried items in sub-entries and it takes longer to accomplish what you want.

      By any measure, that is not an upgrade no matter how many people wish it to be so.

      Except all the research shows that if what you say is true then you're an edge case for how you create documents. By all accounts most functions are actually one or more clicks closer to the surface now with context sensitive menus (ribbon), and functions popping up as a result of actions (highlighting, pasting, clicking on a table). You can say what you like but Microsoft is very good at tracking the number of clicks each task takes and all their UI efforts since windows XP has revolved around reducing the number of clicks or moves, despite how counter intuitive you think the new filing system is.

      p.s. After using it for several years now I never "hope" I just click to where something is. You learnt the old system by rote, the new system is no different.

    18. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by nuckfuts · · Score: 1

      Name one function that was removed since 2003.

      Microsoft removed the ability to "Insert from Scanner or Camera". For subsequent versions, the workaroundis to scan to an image file on your computer, and then insert the saved image into the document, rather than scanning directly into the document as before.

      The removal of this menu item annoyed a lot of people, including myself.

    19. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by spire3661 · · Score: 1

      Launchpad vs Metro is my biggest frustration. Launchpad is how Metro should have been. Sent from my Mac Mini.

      --
      Good-bye
    20. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by nosfucious · · Score: 1

      I'd just be happy if I could move the ribbon to the right or left side of the screen. So much real estate there and it doesn't get in the way. But nooooooo, fixed at the top of the screen so I can't see more of my document.

      --
      Q:I was listening to a CD in Grip and it sounded horrible! What's up? A:Perhaps you are listening to country music
    21. Re: Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I have all 3 - a laptop, a phone and a tablet.

      Laptop I use for work, and also, for getting on the internet and participating on sites like this one. Phone, I use for calls and FaceTime, as well as for shopping lists, Yelp! and a few others. Tablet I use for books and watching videos. All 3 platforms I use for different games.

      Also, since the laptop is not a Windows laptop, there are some apps, like WebEx, that I use on the tablet. In some cases, it saves me from the need to have Windows on the laptop. I'm not a heavy user of Office, so Calligra Suite works for reading the documents I need to read. Once Windows 10 is out, I might get a WinBook or similar Windows tablet in order to edit the documents I need to edit. But otherwise, a lot of the apps I'd have got on a PC on Windows are now available on Android or iOS, so my tablet or phone can work there.

      YMMV

    22. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Launchpad vs Metro is my biggest frustration. Launchpad is how Metro should have been. Sent from my Mac Mini.

      I don't use it myself, but yeah, you're right. There are no specific program requirements for launchpad, you can fit a lot more programs on each screen, and it doesn't get in the way. All of which Metro fails at. But that actual choice is the best feature. Imagine a Mac User from say, system 6, magically transported to today. Sit him in front of a Mac running Yosemite.

      In a few minutes, he'll be computing like a boss. First by teh menus, then maybe settling into to something he likes.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    23. Re:Office 2007 started the move into alternatives by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      My Nexus 7 fits in the front pocket of all of the pants I have (I never use my back pockets for anything.)

  3. huh?? by aduxorth · · Score: 1, Interesting

    WTF happened to Office 365 (the software) and their subscription model?? Not going so well on the corporate side??

    1. Re:huh?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Office 365 is not software per se, but a service that also happens to include software. It includes Office 2013, which surely will be updated to 2016 as soon as it is available. And as far as we can see, it has been and continues to be quite successful.

    2. Re:huh?? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 1

      They have always had a subscription model (Open Value Subscription) for corporations alongside full license purchase, Office 365 never changed that in the slightest - many companies out there prefer capital cost to subscription, as subscriptions cannot go on the books as assets while purchased licenses can.

      Office 365 is more orientated toward the smaller business or home user that cannot afford or want to defer capital costs while using the software they want in the mean time. Anything above a few dozen users will probably go with a Microsoft licensing reseller and sign on to a VL agreement (MS allows you to have one single license on a VL, it has no bottom end in reality but it has benefits such as Software Assurance et al.

    3. Re:huh?? by bemymonkey · · Score: 2

      Near as I can tell, Office 2013 is exactly the same as the software Office365 subscribers are getting. I'd assume Office365 users just get auto-updated to Office 2016 as soon as it's released...

    4. Re:huh?? by stooo · · Score: 5, Funny

      >> WTF happened to Office 365

      It will be renamed "Office 362" when the statistics will show 3 days downtime per year :))))

      Or perhaps "Office 363" on leap years :)

      --
      aaaaaaa
    5. Re:huh?? by praxis · · Score: 1

      >> WTF happened to Office 365

      It will be renamed "Office 362" when the statistics will show 3 days downtime per year :))))

      Or perhaps "Office 363" on leap years :)

      And here I thought it would be named Office 6 to follow the Xbox 360 to Xbox One naming convention of subtracting 359 every major release.

  4. "Free" as in "free lunch" by Flavianoep · · Score: 4, Insightful

    These new Office apps will be pre-installed (they will be free) on smartphones and small tablets running Windows 10.

    It's not free if you have to buy something else to get it. Just my 2 cents.

    --
    Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
    1. Re:"Free" as in "free lunch" by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Um yea...
      I didn't see Microsoft file as a Not for Profit organization yet.

      Right now Microsoft is just making sure existing customers don't jump ship, or worry about upgrading now, because the next OS will be out soon.

      The (Desktop/Laptop) PC is no longer the sexy device (The area where Microsoft is king). However it is a big market and you don't want them to go off your platform soon, as they are your main bread and butter.
      The (Tablet/Phones) Mobile Devices are the new trend however Microsoft is managing a far third place. With Google and Apple really giving them good competition. Right now for those who betted on Microsoft Mobile devices and many of them actually really do like their device, Microsoft needs to make sure they have a reason to stay.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:"Free" as in "free lunch" by Translation+Error · · Score: 1

      You may have a point, but on the other hand, how would you use the software without hardware?

      --
      When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    3. Re:"Free" as in "free lunch" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Only slashdot turns a gift (from MS) into something bad, you guys are trying to hard

    4. Re:"Free" as in "free lunch" by praxis · · Score: 1

      It's not really a gift, though, if one has to spend money to get it. Do you often fall for the "but if you buy now we'll throw in X..." deals thinking that X is completely free and not a planned part of the transaction?

    5. Re:"Free" as in "free lunch" by Flavianoep · · Score: 1

      I've never had to buy any hardware only to use Opera. I just installed on the hardware that I already had. Who don't have any computer these days?

      --
      Linux is for people who don't mind RTFM.
    6. Re:"Free" as in "free lunch" by toddestan · · Score: 1

      I would say that they are included with the purchase of the device. To say they are free implies that I can get them at no cost without buying the hardware and possibly use them on some other device I already own.

  5. Is This The No-Access Office? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I read that a forthcoming release of Office will eliminate Access Completely, and integrate all Access functions into Excel. Does anyone know if this will come about in the announced release?

  6. In-App Purchases? by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    If this is going where I think it's going, Microsoft is going to give away the razor for free but charge you for the grammar checker. Then they'll be able to claim all those free users as customers to inflate their credibility.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:In-App Purchases? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Microsoft has changed a lot in the recent past and the new guy at the top is very clearly different than the two previous guys at the top.

      And yet, not clearly effectual

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  7. no more ALL CAPS & BLINDING WHITE by Billly+Gates · · Score: 1

    I have a 365 subscription and downgraded back to 2010 for that reason. I have an Asus gaming monitor which is very bright and it is like staring intensely at a florescent lamp with Office 2013.

    Thank God color is back

    --
    http://saveie6.com/
    1. Re:no more ALL CAPS & BLINDING WHITE by urbanriot · · Score: 2

      ... what you call downgrading, I call upgrading. I haven't experienced a bug in Office 2010 since SP1 yet Office 2013 is missing features and has plenty of bugs. Oh, and yes, the garish color as you relay AND THE RIBBON SHOUTING HOME AND VIEW, THAT'S FIXED WHEN YOU UPGRADE TO OFFICE 2010.

  8. Ribbon by Liquid+Len · · Score: 1

    Seems they won't let go of the awful ribbon. After all these years, I still hate it... So no thanks.

  9. Oh no... by Dekonega · · Score: 1

    Windows 10 is not ready by a long shot. It's dysfunctional as hell as a product. It has a schizophrenia that is only getting worse and worse. Fuelled by the fact that Joe Belfiore doesn't seem to understand what people want from a desktop Windows... So go ahead Microsoft, release the Windows 10. Make year of the Linux on desktop happen sooner.

    1. Re:Oh no... by PrimaryConsult · · Score: 1

      Windows 8 would have been the year of Linux on the desktop, if the Gnome project hadn't decided to radically change their UI at the same time. It would have been easy to get people to switch to Gnome 2. But by inspiring every distro to jump ship for something else, at the crucial time when we really could have convinced people to switch, there was nothing fitting the (worthwhile+easy to use) categories to recommend.

      We really were that close. I don't see us ever getting back to that, at this point. At least, I see Microsoft getting their act together again long before.

  10. Why do they take so long to load? by cjonslashdot · · Score: 1, Informative

    Can they please make the programs load more quickly? Why does it take 30 seconds (at least) for Powerpoint to start? Almost as long for Word? These programs took that long to load on my Mac in 1990. Today, they should load in the blink of an eye. What the heck is wrong?

    1. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by Richard_at_work · · Score: 4, Informative

      Get an SSD - Word 2013 loads in under a second here.

    2. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Get an SSD...

      The standard, ages-old "fix" for bloating, slowing MS-ware: buy new hardware.

    3. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      On my 5 year old computer (Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @ 2.33 Ghz, 4 Gigs Ram, Windows 8.1), Powerpoint 2007 opened from a cold start in just under 4 seconds. As another poster mentioned, the problem is your computer.

    4. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by bradvoy · · Score: 1

      I've never seen any version of Word or PowerPoint since 2003 take anywhere near that long to load except when there are one or more slow-loading addins installed. Check your list of addins and disable or uninstall any you don't use.

    5. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Some people call it bloat, others call it adding features. You want fast the use Office 97, but good luck getting it to automatically interface with your OneCloud account let alone draw dynamic pivot tables which update based on selection drop downs within the spreadsheet.

      My computer does more now. I expect it would need more processing power to do it at the same speed.

    6. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      What the heck is wrong?

      You have completely hosed your computer and windows installation and it's time to format. No really, my dad's 10 year old computer loads word in about 10 seconds. You've done something VERY wrong.

      Cut your losses and start over man.

    7. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by cjonslashdot · · Score: 1

      I don't have any add-ons - at least, I have not installed any. I use these programs vanilla, via my Office 360 subscription. I am running them on a Macbook Pro.

    8. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by cjonslashdot · · Score: 1

      I use a dual core Macbook Pro, with 8Gb of ram.

    9. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Then REALLY start over.

    10. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by armanox · · Score: 1

      I just timed loading Office 2011 for Mac on my MacBook Pro (MBP 1,1, 2.1GHz Core [1] Duo, 2GB RAM, OS X 10.6) - loading and hitting Open Apple + N, and waiting for the new window to open took around 16 seconds.

      --
      I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
    11. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by cjonslashdot · · Score: 1

      I just tried it and it took ~30 seconds. But then I closed it and opened it again, and the second time it took 15 seconds. I have other programs running, but not a huge number. After installing Yosemite performance did not change right away, but lately I have noticed the system performing very slowly. Still, these programs do essentially what they did ten (twenty!) years ago - and computers are so much faster and have so much more memory. These kinds of programs should load in an instant - there should be no perceptible wait at all.

    12. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by armanox · · Score: 1

      Sounds like the wait is mainly HDD related, if I had to take a guess. That's the only explanation I can give for why they are so similar.

      --
      I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
    13. Re:Why do they take so long to load? by cjonslashdot · · Score: 1

      It could be. My disk is only half full (out of 319Gb avail). When I installed Yosemite, I initially selected to turn on FileValt, but later I turned it off, so it had to decrypt the volume. I wonder if things got fragmented.

  11. Microsoft did not reveal any upcoming features by sproketboy · · Score: 2

    "Microsoft did not reveal any upcoming features it is planning for Office 2016." Except changes in the formats to break everything again.

  12. Re:They just move the menu items around by GoddersUK · · Score: 1, Funny

    Yes, you keep using Windows 95. I mean I'm sure it's just as good to use as Windows 8.1, it's got complete feature parity and you're productivity will skyrocket from the modern interface and featureset.

  13. microsoft by sameersan · · Score: 1

    they take to long to load http://www.allthatewbstuff.blo...

  14. Gee I wonder which by kilodelta · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I wonder which new 'feature' will make O2K16 WORSE than it's predecessors thereby necessitating a mass flee to LibreOffice. As someone who develops on occasion in VBA I was pissed when they switch from dot notation to bang notation. Nice going guys.

    1. Re:Gee I wonder which by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      VBA is an abomination unto, well, everything. Stop using VBA.

      Documents are meant to be static. Use a program to generate documents dynamically. That program can be written in whatever (real) language you choose. It can even take an earlier form of a particular document as input, and then overwrite it when it makes its output. But embedding that program into the document is stupid and terrible. VBA shouldn't be altered just enough to piss off its users. It should be scrapped entirely and the ex-users told that they should never do that again because it's a bad idea. The update should also administer some electric shocks to those ex-users so they get the point.

  15. Marketing by hduff · · Score: 1

    The marketing drones have won. Style triumphs over substance.

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  16. So nothing for business, everything for mobile? by urbanriot · · Score: 1

    Based on what I'm seeing on the topic of Office 2016, it seems this will be more of the same - rife with bugs for regular users and more gimmicky touch options for the small handful of people that use them? I wonder if they'll upgrade 2016 with a feature missing from 2013 that highlights folders hosting unread emails in bold with the total number of unread emails. Maybe this version will be a reason to upgrade from 2010... ? One can hope that after 6 years they can make a decent product that people might want.

  17. The New Office by sycodon · · Score: 1

    Primary new feature is all the menu items have been switched around.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
  18. What if you're emailed a 2016 formated docx? by walterbyrd · · Score: 1

    Office-2003 may be okay for creating your own documents, but if people start emailing you 2013, or 2016 formatted? Will Office-2003 read those formats?

    1. Re:What if you're emailed a 2016 formated docx? by ITRambo · · Score: 1

      Office 2000 through 2003 users can download Microsoft's Office 2007 compatibility pack to read and save in .docx, xisx, etc. formats. Here's the link: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us... Or, if Office 2016 format is changed, they could just install the version of LibreOffice that will be released just after MS Office 2016, which will open MS formats.

  19. Aero? by Twinbee · · Score: 1

    Will we get our Aero back so we don't go blind looking at Win 8's flat-land GUI?

    --
    Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
  20. Ongoing frustrations with Office and Windows by Molonel · · Score: 1

    My main problem with Office, of any version, is the same problem I have with Windows. Every new version is simply a game of Hide the Hamster with all of the features I've known how to use for years. No, nothing has been "lost" in the sense that it's all still there. It's just reshuffled endlessly. Supporting different versions of Office just means doing a lot of Googling for stuff like "This or that feature, Office 2007" and "This or that feature, Office 365." It makes acquiring any sort of fluency in the technology almost pointless. Why bother? It's just going to be somewhere else in the next version of the software, which should roll around in another two years or so.

    1. Re:Ongoing frustrations with Office and Windows by ledow · · Score: 1

      And as is my primary beef with MSCE etc.

      Why does it matter where they are? Who cares? Anyone skilled in the use of the software - previous versions, similar programs, competitor's products - will know what they were after and once they have found it, they've found it "forever" in that version.

      Rejigging the default isn't a problem. What's a problem is not having customisability. Why CAN'T I put the fucking mail-merge button into the toolbar I want, or assign it the keyboard shortcut I want? If you can't do those things, that's infinitely more annoying and important.

      And who cares where you have to right-click to find the Enable Account for a user account in AD? It's not important, because you can google that bit. What's important is knowing that it's possible, what the impact might be, why you would do such a thing, and can you actually safely do it to THAT account.

      That's the bit that people who run training courses miss, that people who set up training miss, that people who attend training miss, and that Microsoft really miss the ball on a lot.

      Who cares if it's under File, Edit, Insert or the Home tab? Why can't I have an "Office 2003" compatibility button that makes it the same layout / hotkey as it used to be, even if it looks "old and shit"?

      This is where MS falls down every time. Start Menus, Office toolbars, Metro, and even things like Server Manager. Separate design from function, and allow the design to be customisable. From that point on, nothing else matters.

  21. It could fail. by yoshi_mon · · Score: 1

    I just fired up Win10 in my VM to remember if I'd missed anything about it. And no...still is not that great.

    As others have said it is just a SP to Win 8/8.1 with a lesser version of the Win7 Start Menu. And to boot it looks pretty awful for desktop users still. The flat/square theme might look ok on a tablet, I would not know as I've yet to use it on such a device, but it is pretty bad compared to the Win7 theme.

    Also lost functionality is the local backup system that went away in 8.1 and Media Center. I've no problem with the idea of remote backup, provided it's done right, but not having local backup functionality as well is bad. And Media Center was actually a pretty nice thing that seems to have totally gone away.

    So yeah, Win10 is more of the same bad that Win8 was/is and likely will meet a similar fate.

    --

    Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
  22. Optimized for Touch, just like Win8 by Hobadee · · Score: 1

    2016: Optimized for touch. Look, when you click somewhere an on screen keyboard pops up, you then conveniently click the letters you want to type with your mouse! It's super-easy! (Disclaimer: keyboards are disabled.)

    --
    ...Had this been an actual emergency, we would have fled in terror, and you would not have been informed.
  23. Re:No, its a bad design by clodney · · Score: 1

    So the toolbar icon for things like open, print, save, etc. shouldn't exist?

    The issue of the ribbon showing nouns for things that represent actions has existed ever since the first toolbar was created. Toolbars display icons, and pressing the icon causes an action to occur.

    Like or dislike the ribbon as you wish, but don't pretend it has broken new conceptual design. I like it, but given the trend to widescreen monitors, I wish they would have laid it out as a panel on the left side of the window, rather than taking up precious vertical space.

  24. Re: No!- Libreoffice and sharepoint by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Looking at the release notes for libreoffice 4.4.0 coming out next week. Direct connections to sharepoint nad onedrive are supported. Checkin, Checkout and versioning.
    https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/ReleaseNotes/4.4#Connection_to_SharePoint_and_OneDrive
    http://mihai-varga.github.io/sharepoint-20102013-connection.html
    http://mihai-varga.github.io/onedrive-connection.html

  25. Simliar to Apple by sethaw · · Score: 1

    Microsoft isn't that much different from Apple for how long their 1st generation tablets worked with new OS versions. Here is what I pieced together from wikipedia of how long it took to get to unsupported for the different tablets.

    Apple
    ipad released April 2010
    IOS 6 released June 2012 without support for original ipad.

    Microsoft
    Surface RT released Oct 26, 2012
    Windows 10 planned to be released in 2015 without support

    Google
    Nexus 7 released July 2012
    Supports latest Andriod.

    Samsung
    Galaxy Tab released Sept 2010
    Andriod 3.0 Honeycomb released Feb 2011, not compatible.

  26. A garland of pickled ringpieces. by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Cross platform? They haven't even solved cross version.
    People used to give me Word 2007 docs to correct. I had Word 2003. After two attempts I started asking for a hard copy that I'd scrawl on with a pen. They thought I was mad until I showed them; If I tried to do it on the 'puter the editing used to happen in a random location. I say random, the one place it didn't happen was where the cursor was.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:A garland of pickled ringpieces. by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Cross platform? They haven't even solved cross version. People used to give me Word 2007 docs to correct. I had Word 2003. After two attempts I started asking for a hard copy that I'd scrawl on with a pen.

      Adobe is known for that crap also.

      Perhaps the Open Offices are more compatible with Office than Office is itself, looking at it again?

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
  27. Re:No, its a bad design by clodney · · Score: 1

    My point is that the ribbon is just a glorified toolbar. People use toolbars all the time without being bothered by the noun/verb dichotomy, so the ribbon is no more difficult than a toolbar, which are utterly common UI elements. Add in the text on the ribbon, tooltips on the buttons, and grouping of similar functions, and I don't see the problem.

  28. Re:No, its a bad design by mcswell · · Score: 1

    Agreed, I virtually never guess from the icon what it will do. I liken them to hieroglyphs. And there's a reason that we went 1500 years without being able to read Egyptian hieroglyphics--in fact, until we found an alphabetic representation of what the hieroglyphics meant. Likewise, with the ribbon I have to look at the label, which is written in alphabetic characters. Since I (and most other people I know) have to read the label anyway, why not do away with the useless hieroglyphs, and give us a ribbon with just the labels? Labels could be nested hierarchically, and...well, you get the picture.

  29. Track changes in Powerpoint? by mcswell · · Score: 1

    Where I work, the most requested feature for Powerpoint is Track changes (like Word has had for years). I realize the form factor is a bit different, but it should be possible.