On Tuesday, Microsoft announced its Office 2019 update in the most boring way possible. The productivity suite is one of the company’s main products and a huge earner. But, to be fair, it’s not like you can come up with productivity features that will wow users year after year, which is probably why Office 2019 got such a dull press release.
The good news is that it’ll launch a lot earlier than you think, at some point in the second half of 2018. That means you can expect beta versions to come out even earlier than that, at some point around the middle of next year.
The next perpetual release of Office will include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook updates, as well as new versions of Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business.
“Office 2019 will add new user and IT capabilities for customers who aren’t yet ready for the cloud. For example, new and improved inking features—like pressure sensitivity, tilt effects, and ink replay—will allow you to work more naturally,” Microsoft Office general manager Jared Spataro said in a press release that also seems to convey his annoyance having at having to write it.
“New formulas and charts will make data analysis for Excel more powerful. Visual animation features—like Morph and Zoom—will add polish to PowerPoint presentations. Server enhancements will include updates to IT manageability, usability, voice, and security.”
These sound just like the tools that would help Spataro come up with a more appealing Office 2019 introduction.
It’s likely that the Office 2019 demo you deserve is just around the corner, and that it’ll be a lot more exciting and will include actual images and photos that will highlight these hot new features.
