Microsoft on Friday announced that it plans to release a new version of Office for Mac next year, with a beta version to be launched in the first half of 2015 and the full release set for the second half of the year. The company also announced that Mac users can now download a new Outlook for Mac version, as long as they’re Office 365 customers.

Learn how to install Office for Mac updates, and check out the information below to learn about each Insider Fast release. New Outlook for Mac On November 6, 2019, the new Outlook for Mac was announced at Microsoft Ignite.

If you're an Office Insider, see Release notes for Insider Fast builds.; Starting with the 16.17 release in September 2018, these release notes also apply to Office 2019 for Mac, which is a version of Office for Mac that’s available as a one-time purchase from a retail store or through a volume licensing agreement. Outlook for Mac - Release notes for Insider Fast builds. Insider builds for Office for Mac are updated on a regular basis to provide new or improved features, security updates and bug fixes. To see similar information about other Office for Mac apps, go to Release notes for Insider Fast builds of Office for Mac. First release designed for the PPC, final release for 68K March 15, 1998 Office 98 (8.0) Word, Excel, PowerPoint 98 October 11, 2000 Office 2001 (9.0 Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Entourage 2001 final release for Mac OS 9, latest update 9.0.6. November 19, 2001 Office v.

FROM EARLIER: Leak may reveal release details for next-gen Office for Mac and Android

The company said it is focused on Office for smartphones (iPhone, Windows Phone and Android) and tablets (iPad and Windows) following the Office 365 release, but it won’t ignore Office for Mac.

“Continuing our commitment to our valued Mac customers, we are pleased to disclose the roadmap for the next version of Office for Mac—including Word for Mac, Excel for Mac, PowerPoint for Mac and OneNote for Mac,” Microsoft wrote.

“In the first half of 2015 we will release a public beta for the next version of Office for Mac, and in the second half of 2015 we will make the final release available. Office 365 commercial and consumer subscribers will get the next version at no additional cost, and we will release a perpetual license of Office for Mac in the same timeframe,” the company added.

Recent leaks have already shown images of Microsoft’s upcoming Office for Mac release, suggesting a launch is near.

Furthermore, the company also mentioned the main Outlook for Mac features, as listed below:

• Better performance and reliability as a result of a new threading model and database improvements.
• A new modern user interface with improved scrolling and agility when switching between Ribbon tabs.
• Online archive support for searching Exchange (online or on-premises) archived mail.
• Master Category List support and enhancements delivering access to category lists (name and color) and sync between Mac, Windows and OWA clients.
• Office 365 push email support for real-time email delivery.
• Faster first-run and email download experience with improved Exchange Web Services syncing.

Today, we are announcing the general availability of Office 2019 for Windows and Mac. Office 2019 is the next on-premises version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Project, Visio, Access, and Publisher.

Get more with Office 365 ProPlus

Office 365 ProPlus is the most productive and most secure Office experience for enterprises.

Office 365 ProPlus, the cloud-connected version of Office, delivers the most productive and most secure Office experience—with the lowest total cost of ownership for deployment and management. However, for customers who aren’t ready for the cloud, Office 2019 provides new features and updates to the on-premises apps for both users and IT professionals. Like Windows Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) releases, Office 2019 provides a set of valuable enhancements for customers who can’t be cloud-connected or receive regular updates.

The new enhancements in Office 2019 are a subset of a long list of features that have been added to Office 365 ProPlus over the last three years. Office 2019 is a one-time release and won’t receive future feature updates. However, we’ll continue to add new features to Office 365 ProPlus monthly, including innovations in collaboration, artificial intelligence (AI), security, and more.

Office 2019 delivers features across apps to help users create amazing content in less time. In PowerPoint 2019, you can create cinematic presentations with new features like Morph and Zoom. And improved inking features across the apps in Windows—like the roaming pencil case, pressure sensitivity, and tilt effects—allow you to naturally create documents.

Excel 2019 adds powerful new data analysis features, including new formulas and charts and enhancements to PowerPivot.

Free Microsoft Office For Mac

Word 2019 and Outlook 2019 help you focus on what matters most. Learning Tools, like Read Aloud and Text Spacing, make it easier to engage with your content. Focus Mode blocks out distractions and puts your content front and center. And Focused Inbox moves less important emails out of the way—so you can get straight to taking care of business. For a longer list of the new features in Office 2019, see our FAQs.

Office 2019 also includes new IT value for enhanced security and streamlined administration. We introduced Click-to-Run (C2R), a modern deployment technology, in Office 2013, and it’s now used to deploy and update Office across hundreds of millions of devices worldwide. With Office 2019, we’re moving the on-premises versions of Office to C2R to reduce costs and improve security. The advantages of C2R include predictable monthly security updates, up-to-date apps on installation, reduced network consumption through Windows 10 download optimization technology, and an easy upgrade path to Office 365 ProPlus. C2R offers the same enterprise-focused management capabilities as Microsoft Installer (MSI) based products and will also support an in-place upgrade when you move to Office 2019 from older MSI-based products. To learn more, refer to the Office 2019 Click-to-Run FAQ.

The 2019 release of Office products also includes updates to our servers, and in the coming weeks, we will release Exchange Server 2019, Skype for Business Server 2019, SharePoint Server 2019, and Project Server 2019.

Office 2019 is a valuable update for customers who aren’t yet ready for the cloud. And each time we release a new on-premises version of Office, customers ask us if this will be our last. We’re pleased to confirm that we’re committed to another on-premises release in the future. While the cloud offers real benefits in productivity, security, and total cost of ownership, we recognize that each customer is at a different point in their adoption of cloud services. We see the on-premises version of Office as an important part of our commitment to give customers the flexibility they need to move to the cloud at their own pace.

Availability

Microsoft Office For Mac

• Commercial volume-licensed (trusted) customers can access Office 2019 starting today.
• Office 2019 is now available for consumer and commercial customers. For consumer customers in China, India, and Japan, Office 2019 suites will be available in the next few months.
• Certain features are only available in the Mac or Windows versions of Office 2019. For details, see the FAQ.