Another factor that may sway your decision is that Microsoft will stop mainstream support for Mac versions of Office Home & Student 2019 as well as Home & Business 2019 on 10 October 2023.
Microsoft may make preview, insider, beta or other pre-release versions of the Software (“Previews”) available to you. You may use Previews only up to the software’s expiration date (if any) and so long as you comply with these license terms.
EDR capabilities in Microsoft Defender ATP for Mac now available for preview. At Microsoft, we’re committed to building security solutions not just for Microsoft but also from Microsoft. We know that customers have complex and heterogenous environments running multiple applications, multiple clouds, and multiple platforms.
.NET 5.0 downloads for Linux, macOS, and Windows.NET is a free, cross-platform, open-source developer platform for building many different types of applications. So when Microsoft slouches on iOS or OS X, Apple releases an update to iWork so that Microsoft feels the pain when people stop using Office. Apple maximizes that pain by offering iWork for cheap or free. Without iWork, Microsoft would feel content to let OS X have a decade old version of Office with numerous features missing and a ridiculous price.
Update 6/4/19: In addition to the Canary Channel we released last week, you can now download the Dev channel for macOS from the Microsoft Edge Insider website. This release enables dark mode, which makes your tabs, address bar, toolbar, menus, and other elements use dark colors if you have your macOS theme set to “Dark Mode.” We’ll expand dark mode in the coming weeks to include other parts of Microsoft Edge, such as settings and management pages. Check it out, and let us know your thoughts using the “Send feedback” smiley, the Microsoft Edge Insider forums, or by reaching out on Twitter.
Last month, we announced the first preview builds of the next version of Microsoft Edge for Windows 10. Today, we are pleased to announce the availability of the Microsoft Edge Canary channel for macOS. You can now install preview builds from the Microsoft Edge Insider site for your macOS or Windows 10 PC, with more Windows version support coming soon.
Building a “Mac-like” user experience for Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge for macOS will offer the same new browsing experience that we’re previewing on Windows, with user experience optimizations to make it feel at home on a Mac. We are tailoring the overall look and feel to match what macOS users expect from apps on this platform.
We are committed to building a world class browser with Microsoft Edge through differentiated user experience features and connected services. With this initial release, we have made several changes to the user interface to align with the Microsoft design language whilst making it feel natural on macOS.
Examples of this include a number of tweaks to match macOS conventions for fonts, menus, keyboard shortcuts, title casing, and other areas. You will continue to see the look and feel of the browser evolve in future releases as we continue to experiment, iterate and listen to customer feedback. We encourage you to share your feedback with us using the “Send feedback” smiley.
Additionally, we are designing user experiences that are exclusive to macOS, by leveraging specific hardware features available on Mac. For example, providing useful and contextual actions through the Touch Bar like website shortcuts, tab switching and video controls, as well as enabling familiar navigation with trackpad gestures.
Introducing the Microsoft Edge Insider Channels for macOS
The new Microsoft Edge preview builds for macOS are available through preview channels that we call “Microsoft Edge Insider Channels.” We are starting by launching the Microsoft Edge Insider Canary Channel, which you can download and try at the Microsoft Edge Insider site. This channel is available starting today on macOS 10.12 and above. The Dev Channel will be released very soon, and once available, you’ll be able to download and install it side-by-side with the Canary Channel. You can learn more about our approach and what to expect from the different channels in our blog post from last month.
A consistent platform and tools for web developers
With our new Chromium foundation, you can expect a consistent rendering experience across the Windows and macOS versions of Microsoft Edge, as well as the same powerful developer tools you’ll find on Windows.
For the first time, web developers can now test sites and web apps in Microsoft Edge on macOS and be confident that those experiences will work the same in the next version of Microsoft Edge across all platforms. (Note that platform-specific capabilities, like PlayReady content decryption on Windows 10, should continue to be feature detected for the best experience on those platforms.)
As with our Windows preview builds, our new macOS version also includes support for installable, standards-based Progressive Web Apps which you can inspect and debug using the browser developer tools. We’re working to make PWAs feel at home alongside your native apps, so when installed they will appear in your Dock, app switcher, and Spotlight just like a native app.
Sharing your feedback
We’re delighted to share our first Microsoft Edge Canary build for macOS with you! Getting your feedback is an important step in helping us make a better browser – we consider it essential to create the best possible browsing experience on macOS. We hope you’ll try the preview today, and we look forward to your feedback and participation in the Microsoft Edge Insider community.
If you encounter any issues, and to give feedback or share suggestions with the team, head over to the Microsoft Edge Insider community forums, get in touch with us on Twitter, or just use the “Send feedback” option in the Microsoft Edge menu to let us know what you think.
For web developers, if you encounter an issue that reproduces in Chromium, it’s best to file a Chromium bug. For problems in the existing version of Microsoft Edge, please continue to use the EdgeHTML Issue Tracker.
We look forward to hearing from you!
– The Microsoft Edge Team
Microsoft are currently offering their forthcoming new Mac office suite as a free beta download. I check it out.
The tech world might be a different place than it was in the early 90’s, but Microsoft Office is still the de facto office suite for those users with professional needs.
Anyone who knows me knows I am no fan of Microsoft, and I have spent years using free alternatives such as OpenOffice and Bean without any problems, but recently I ran into rendering issues with some complex .docx documents, and it seemed the only option was for me to use Microsoft Office.
A quick search on the Net, and it seemed that, as I was running OS X 10.10 Yosemite, I would need Office 2008. However, I then found that Microsoft were offering their new version of Office for Mac as a free beta until the final version is released in mid 2015, so I took this opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
Download
Visit the Mac Preview site to grab your copy. It is a straightforward download with no need to sign up, but at 2.6 GB it is a large one.
First Look
I am writing this article in the preview version of Word, and it has a slick look to it, a look that is closer to what Windows users have been rocking for a while now.
Microsoft introduced the ‘ribbon’ layout in Office 2007 for Windows, but not until Office 2011 for Mac. Even then it was a horrible interface. It was refined in Office 2013 for Windows, and now Mac users get their version.
Across the top we have the regular Mac menu, and then under that there is coloured band that holds the toolbar tabs. These toolbars give you quick access to almost all of Word’s features, which are normally only accessible from the regular menus or contextual menus.
This ribbon and toolbar combo means it takes up quite a bit of screen real estate – especially on my 11” MacBook Air – but the toolbars can be raised and lowered, leaving you with only a small coloured band at the top taken up.
The coloured band varies depending on which application you are using. Word is blue, Excel is green, PowerPoint is red, Outlook is a lighter blue, and OneNote is purple. For some reason, Outlook doesn’t have this band.
Microsoft have done a great job of bringing a Windows product to the Mac and making it look like a Mac product. Office 2016 Preview looks incredibly well integrated.
Speed
I am using this on an i5 with 8 GB RAM, and Word and Excel scream along on it. They open within a few seconds, and the general feel of each package is very quick. There is no lag when switching or editing documents – even some fairly large ones.
Rendering & Compatibility
This venture was sparked by the need to edit a heavily formatted Word document that was initially created in Office 2000 for Windows, then edited using various newer versions including Office 365. It had been opened and saved numerous times across numerous machines.
Mac Preview For Windows 10
However, on the Mac neither OpenOffice, LibreOffice, Bean, nor Apple’s Preview app could open it correctly without rendering issues. Office 2016 Beta opened it without any problems, although that isn’t surprising.
Updates
This is a beta or preview product, so you expect it to be updated with fixes. However, each application – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote – is updated individually. After the large 2.66 GB download, I was faced with updated each app when opening them, and these weren’t small updates – pulling in at least 800 MB for each individual package.
Unfinished
It might not be a full and finished package, but Microsoft – for a change – have released a very slick and so far stable product that with subsequent fixes should turn out to be a fantastic offering to the Mac world.
Would I Switch?
I have enjoyed using this new preview version of Office, but the biggest reason I haven’t used Microsoft Office at home is the cost, and until now I have not needed the advanced features – so OpenOffice and Bean have suited my needs.
I doubt if after this preview expires I will pay the usual high price Microsoft will expect. However, if they do offer it at a reasonable price, I would consider it.
Microsoft Word For Mac
Conclusion
If you are a Mac user and need 100% compatibility with Office for Windows, then Microsoft Office for Mac 2016 is going to suit you, and the fact it is a great conversion makes it an easy choice.
Microsoft For Mac Preview Software
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