Microsoft Announces July Updates for Office 365
- Paul Thurrott
- Jul 31, 2017
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Today, Microsoft announced a long list of improvements it is adding across Office 365 this month.
“This month, we hosted more than 17,000 attendees at Microsoft Inspire, our annual conference for partners, where we announced Microsoft 365 and debuted three new business apps to help companies of all sizes empower their employees and unlock growth and innovation,” Microsoft corporate vice president Kirk Koenigsbauer writes. “We also introduced new features to help Office 365 subscribers create and connect more effectively.”
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Here’s what’s new in July for Office 365.
Microsoft 365. Microsoft 365 is Microsoft as a Service, as I called it, a combination of Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security for businesses of all sizes.
New business apps in Office 365 Business Premium. Microsoft launched three new business apps for Office 365 Business Premium in July: Microsoft Connections, Microsoft Listings, and Microsoft Invoicing. These apps are are rolling out in preview to subscribers in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, starting with those in the First Release program. A fourth app, MileIQ, for mileage tracking, is available to all Business Premium subscribers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada effective immediately.
PowerPoint timelines. The PowerPoint Designer on Windows desktop and Mac (in English for U.S. customers in the Office Insider program) has been updated to recognize times, dates and topics on your slides and intelligently redesign the content into professional-looking timelines.
3D in Office apps. You can now add and edit 3D objects in Word, Excel and PowerPoint 2016 for Windows (requires the Windows 10 Creators Update).
Word read aloud. Office Insiders using Word on Windows desktops can now access an improved Read Aloud feature from the Review tab. It will be generally available later this year.
Outlook improvements. Outlook 2016 for Windows (for Office Insiders) and Outlook on the web (for everyone) has been improved with a smarter To: line (with smart contact suggestions) and a redesigned conversation view. Outlook for iOS also picks up an improved layout in conversation view. This feature is coming to Android “soon,” Microsoft says.
StaffHub improvements. StaffHub received several enhancements in July on both Android and iOS. This one’s a bit odd, but Microsoft notes that “updates to StaffHub are available today by request and can be turned on for specific teams and customers.”