Microsoft on Thursday announced the release of Office 2016 for Mac. This marks the first major Mac release of the popular software suite since Office 2011, and it's now available for download in 140 countries, for Office 365 subscribers.
"Unmistakably Office, designed for Mac," said Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate VP of Office Client Applications and Services. It includes new versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, as well as a number of improvements.
Microsoft has released the public beta of Office for Mac 2016 on its Microsoft Office webpage, most notably bringing a redesign and Retina support to the suite of apps. The beta can be downloaded for free and provides an alternative to Apple's iWork suite.
Microsoft in a post Friday over at the official Office blog announced immediate availability of a redesigned version of Outlook for Mac while confirming that a new version of Office for Mac will be ready in the first half of 2015 as a public beta, and in the second half of 2015 for public consumption.
Office 365 subscribers will get the next version of Office (which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote) at no additional cost, the Windows giant said and added that it will release a perpetual license of Office for Mac in the same timeframe.