Usually, that takes about two weeks, so we expect to see the features below come to all Office customers this month. For Windows 10 Office users, Microsoft has bumped the suite to build 17.8431 for Office Mobile apps. This release is in the Slow Ring and comes with some significant improvements. For example, Microsoft has bolstered the smart quotes feature in Word. The company has not broken down the update, simply saying the feature is now “smarter”. In Excel, users will now find they can cut or copy cells and insert them with a single tap. Many will find this useful, especially as the function works for whole rows and columns. On Apple’s Mac operating system, the Office Insider Program (again on the Slow Ring) moves to version 15.37 (170805). Microsoft Word scores improved and simpler draft composition tools. The Researcher features now helps find relevant quotes, images, and sources directly within Word. Also in Word, but also available in PowerPoint and Excel is a new security feature. Microsoft says users can click links more confidently as malicious content is blocked. It is worth noting you will need to be an Office 365 subscriber for this to work. Insiders on Mac also get the smart quotes feature that landed on Windows 10.
Updates for iOS
The Office Insider Program is also on iOS these days, and the mobile platform has not been left out. Microsoft is rolling out the same click with confidence ability found in the Mac release. Additionally, custom margins have been added to word and a new conversation experience comes to Outlook. The latter offers a cleaner looking UI with more conversation space. Microsoft has also added a function to make groups and sites easier to access. This is available across the core Office apps (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). For those not on the Office Insider Program, Microsoft should be rolling out these new features to each respective platform in the next few weeks.
