Soon the release of Office 2017 – Microsoft spoke of a simultaneous release with Windows 10. At the beginning of May, the public preview of the new office software was released – we have tested it.
Beta for developers
Microsoft released the latest new version of Office in January 2013, it was adapted to Windows 8 and the touch-screen operation, but this was not satisfactorily implemented for many users and testers. Office 2017 now focuses much more on the cloud: Office automatically saves all documents on the network so that users can access your documents from any device. In the future, several users will be working on a document via the cloud, which was previously only possible in the online office.
Office 2017: The new wizard
Lesetipp: Office 2017 - Public Preview as Download
Improved connection to the cloud
This does not sound like mad: Google uses the Cloud connection to Drive for years, so that different users work together a text or a spreadsheet. It does not matter if you open Google Docs on your mobile phone or in a browser on the Mac or PC.
Office tried
What Office 2017 actually brings and how it looks, since the beginning of May, all interested parties can test free of charge. Up to now, the pre-versions were mainly aimed at developers. If you want, Microsoft gives feedback and reports bugs and errors.
However, only the desktop version of the program is currently available. In principle, Office is designed as a universal app, the new platform of Windows 10. Such an app runs on all Win10 platforms: desktop, tablet, smartphone - and the user experience is the same everywhere. Office as a universal app is to run additionally on iOS and Android. This office app is intended to bring major innovations to Word, Excel & Co.
So Microsoft took the touch optimization this time only: Word and straight Excel can be operated fluently with a finger. Especially in spreadsheets, this works surprisingly well, as first demos show. With tapping and holding, the user simply drags a field into a workspace to mark it. Also the preview of the data in the form of diagrams folds easily with a few finger movements. The desktop version of Office 2017, on the other hand, is designed for use with mouse and keyboard.
The programs are currently only available in English. You can only download a American language pack for each software to correct spelling and grammar. After opening the appropriate program, click on File / Options / Language, and then click the Not Installed link after the entry American (the United States). Follow the instructions, and then download the language file. Then the program will guide you step by step through the installation.
The first look at the new desktop programs shows: Visually, they have hardly changed. A new design highlights Microsoft for the touch-optimized universal apps. The Ribbon-Interface, known since Office 2007 and not very popular with many, has been preserved. The most striking new feature: A feature known from the past is its comeback - the wizard.
There is a new search field at the top of the menu bar in Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint. In it is the prompt: Tell me what you want to do. If you write something in, such as Print, the tool offers various help options - even during typing. Fortunately, the wizard is not as obtrusive as the cliff cliffy (Karl Klammer), which annoyed many users in early office versions.
Office 2017 wants to simplify the creation, editing and saving of files, which are stored in Microsoft's in-house cloud service OneDrive. All data in all Office programs are automatically stored there. However, you can still keep your files locally on the device.
With the more prominently placed Share command, found under File, invite others to edit the document together with you. This works quickly and comfortably: the colleagues see in real time what you are changing. If you want to send a Word document via Outlook, you do not want to send the file, but a link that allows you to work with the recipient.
If you open Word, you will find the same: The program works as you know it from the previous version. There are a few minor improvements: you can, for example, integrate images from the Internet directly into a Word document, either from the Bing search, from Facebook, Flickr or OneDrive. This simply works with a few clicks: Select Insert / Online Pictures and enter a keyword into the search bar.
Also practical are the InApp functions in Word, which, however, were similar in Office 2013. Pre-installed is already the app of Wikipedia. This allows you to search information while writing. To do this, click Insert / MyApps. Wikipedia is already there, you can also search for others. If you choose the online Enzylopia, a field will open at the right side of the program. You can drag it up and down with the mouse, enter a term into the search field. Another add-on is the Bing Translator, which translates your text into other languages almost in real-time.
The innovations at Outlook 2017 are hardly recognizable at first glance. The design looks a bit tidy, but great optical changes are not. There are, however, a few new features: The service clutter, which Microsoft has gradually introduced for Office 365 since autumn, is to clean up the inbox better. The algorithm automatically sorts mails according to whether they are important or unimportant.
Conclusion
Actually a trifle, but a very practical, is the improved attaching of documents. When you write a message to the office clip, the last used pictures, docs, or Excel workbooks appear automatically. It does not matter if it is on the disk or in the cloud.
As with the other Office programs, you can also upgrade and personalize PowerPoint with free and paid apps. Here are some practical extensions, such as a survey and a quiztool. New is the possibility to record presentations and to provide them with sound and audio commentaries. The RecordSliceShow entry can be found under the menu item SlideShow. The presentations you can show others online, Microsoft launched last year the platform OfficeMix. That worked fine when we tried the feature. However, it is not really all that new: Microsoft wants to hold its own against SlideShare.
If you have previously used the Microsoft Office package, you will not have to get used to it. All too much has not changed, great innovations do not exist. The wizard is helpful. What caught our eye: the programs all work a little faster than before, which is noticed, for example, when entering text and images.
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