August Updates for Office 365 Include Improved Inking, Security, and More

The Office 365 team at Microsoft continues its torrid update pace this month, with a slew of improvements that hit across virtually all of the client platforms that they support.

“August has been another busy month with updates for inking, mobile app security, Outlook and more,” Microsoft corporate vice president Kirk Koenigsbauer notes. “We’re also announcing an additional level for the Office Insider program.”

OK. Let’s crack the knuckles and dive right in. Here’s are the Office 365 improvements Microsoft is highlighting this month:

Ink math assistant in OneNote mobile for Windows 10. Now, when Office 365 subscribers using the OneNote mobile app for Windows 10 handwrite an equation, the app will convert it to text and then teach you the steps to solve it.

Rewind and replay inking in OneNote mobile for Windows 10.You can now rewind and replay a sequence of handwritten notes and drawings, review step-by-step instructions, or see the order in which somebody else marked up the document. In OneNote mobile for Windows 10 only, but it’s coming soon to PowerPoint, Word and Excel 2016 as well.

New ink effects in OneNote mobile for Windows 10. Previously announced, OneNote mobile for Windows 10 now supports rainbow, galaxy, gold and silver ink effects for the Dedazzled crowd. Be sure to check out this Microsoft blog post, however, that details other new features for OneNote.

Windows Information Protection (WIP) for Office mobile apps for Windows tablets and phones. This is a big deal and should end some grumbling from Windows phone fans, plus please many corporations.

People improvements to Outlook on the web. Outlook on the web for Office 365 commercial customers has been updated with enhanced People experiences.

Visio is coming to web and iPad. We already knew about Visio for iPad, but there’s a web client coming to Office Online as well.

Office Online extension for Microsoft Edge. We’ve known about this one for a while, but with the Anniversary Update out, I guess it’s a real thing now.

In addition to these and other new features, Microsoft has also announced a new level to the Office Insider program called Office Insider Fast. Similar to the Fast ring we see on the Windows Insider program, this level will provide testers with even more frequent new builds of Office. At first, this will be made available only on Windows desktops, Mac and Windows Mobile. But Android and iOS are coming soon, Microsoft says.

“These builds are what Microsoft employees have access to internally,” Mr. Koenigsbauer writes. “Office Insider Fast is best for Insiders who want to use the earliest preview builds to identify issues, provide feedback to help make Office great, and who don’t mind a bit of risk using unsupported builds.”

You can find out more, and sign-up, at the Office Insider web site.