Microsoft Office preview benefits from collaborative chat and glitzy inks

Those of you who test Microsoft’s productivity suite will doubtless be pleased to learn that a new preview version of Office for Windows PCs has been rolled out to the Slow Ring complete with a host of changes, including integrated chat for collaborators.

Yes, the latest preview build for Office Insiders introduces in-line chat functionality that allows you to have a chinwag with co-authors in Word, Excel or PowerPoint. In other words, you get a neat little chat window in these respective apps that facilitates real-time discussions with collaborators.

Microsoft has also jazzed up inks to include the likes of rainbow, galaxy, lava, ocean, gold and silver effects, allowing for sparkly and/or glittery touches to be bestowed in the three main Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

Swift and streamlined

Furthermore, Excel has been improved so that it opens complex workbooks – the kind featuring huge amounts of sheets – in a swifter manner.

Microsoft has also added a number of fresh functions to streamline other operations and make them quicker, such as a new menu option which gives you quick access to all the attachments which have ever been shared with you (to make finding any given attachment easier).

There’s also a new function in Outlook allowing users to quickly add an appointment to a group calendar, and profile cards now surface the most relevant info about contacts.

For the full list of changes, head over here. Incidentally, regarding the mobile software for office, Microsoft pushed out a new set of preview apps last month which gave us our first taste of the suite’s revamped interface based on the Fluent Design System.

Via: Windows Central