Microsoft Office 2016 for Mac
A major upgrade for OS X users
Apple keeps selling more and more Macbooks, while other PC makers struggle. Everyone loves the sleek, minimalist hardware. But what about the software? Although every Mac comes with beautifully designed free apps, not every Windows program is available for Apple’s OS X operating system. Microsoft Office is, but the Mac version hasn’t been updated for five years. Until now.
Office 2016 was released to Office 365 subscribers in July and is available as a ‘one-time purchase’ from September. Like previous Mac versions, it includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook; the Access database available for Windows is absent, which won’t bother most users. You also get Onenote, Microsoft’s note-taking program.
The biggest improvement is to the look of the apps, which is crisp, flat and less cluttered. The ‘ribbon’ of tools is still there at the top, but it’s much friendlier. If you choose the ‘Colorful’ option during setup (or in Preferences), each app’s ribbon is a different colour – blue for Word, green for Excel, and so on.
It’s a big change, but not so much that you’ll get lost, whether you’re coming from Office 2011 for Mac, the Windows version or Office 365’s online apps. The main omission compared with Windows is Backstage, the giant File menu with file-management options. A File menu that just drops down like every other menu is fine with us, thanks.
Former Windows users will also appreciate the inclusion of Ctrl-key shortcuts as well as the Mac Command-key equivalents. But Mac users, especially of Excel, might have serious problems with the absence of some previous combinations and the complete removal of user-defined shortcuts. Trackpad multi-touch gestures, such as pinch to zoom, don’t make up for that, but they’re a welcome addition.
OS X’s full-screen mode is supported, and works well on smaller Macbooks. It’s missing from Outlook, Microsoft’s email app, as is the My Day view, while Calendar, Contacts, Tasks and Notes are only accessible when you choose Folder Pane from the View menu, which is confusing at first. Many users will stick with Apple’s Mail, but Outlook is a good alternative and will suit business users with Microsoft mail servers.
Word 2016 has a new Design tab and loses its Tables, Charts and Smart Art tabs, although all of those features still exist. It also gains Smart Look Up: select a term in a document, click on this command in the Review tab, and you’ll get related information from the web. The Resume Reading feature auto-bookmarks your reading position in a document and takes you back there when you re-open it. Along with Powerpoint, Word now has threaded comments, so when collaborating with other users you can reply to their comments within documents.
Excel also gets Smart Look Up, and an equation editor. It can recommend which type of chart is best suited to a data set, and an add-on called Analysis Toolpak enables more complex statistical and engineering analysis. Powerpoint lets you choose from variants of a theme – so you can keep the style but change the colours, say – and supports more slide transitions. If you choose to store documents ‘in the cloud’ with Onedrive, as Microsoft seems keen for us all to do, you can access them from Windows, the Office apps for iphone and ipad, or in any web browser.
Office 2016 feels more modern and responsive, and manages to be consistent with other versions of Office while feeling like a proper Mac app. Where Office 2011 was unwieldy, it’s now lighter and easier. A vast improvement.
Office 2016 feels more modern and responsive
SEPTEMBER 2015
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