Office 365 received an unprecedented number of functional updates this past year. But now it’s closing out the year with the first major update to its home page experience, which is found at Office.com.
Office.com can still be used to learn more about Office 365 and the various Office products. But it’s primary purpose, since this past April, is to serve as the Office 365 home page for user. And that home page works for consumers, business users, and educational users, and it’s tailored for each.
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That April update brought consistency across Office.com for consumers and business/educational users, where you will find a grid of Office web app tiles and a link to download Office to your PC or Mac. Now, Office.com is getting its first update since that release, with simpler navigation and access to frequently used and recently opened documents.
(Microsoft has similarly made Outlook.com more consistent with Office on the Web, which is the web-based version of Outlook for Office 365 business users.)
“We want to ensure each user has uninterrupted access to their favorite applications and services,” the Office Team writes in a new blog post. “The Office.com homepage now displays the most frequently used apps more prominently. Over time, Office 365 will learn and adjust this ordering based on your individual usage.”
Today, both the consumer and business/educational versions of Office 365 offer a “Your recent online documents” section under the grid of Office web app tiles. But with this coming update, Microsoft is adding a filter control so you can view only Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote documents. You will also be able to pin documents, which will appear in a new Pinned section.
Additionally, Microsoft is adding events and tasks to this home page. A new Upcoming section will show you the day’s meetings and other events, and let you connect to Skype for Business calls.
And a new Tasks section will let you view and complete tasks, and create new tasks.
Microsoft says this new update is rolling out now and will be completed in early 2017. I don’t yet see it on my Office.com home page for either my Home (consumer) or business subscription.