Skip to main content

Microsoft updates make Office 365 smarter and more secure

A person using a laptop that displays various Microsoft Office apps.
Shutterstock
There was a time when Microsoft’s business was primarily based on Windows with some Office productivity suite activity on the side. Now, the company is into cloud services, hardware, gaming, and a number of other business, and yet Office remains vital to its productivity strategy.

That’s likely why the company continues to improve Office, while simultaneously pushing the apps to other platforms. For February 2017, Microsoft is injecting some of its machine intelligence work into Office and making a number of tasks easier and more efficient.

First up is a feature that Microsoft originally introduced at its Ignite 2016 event in September 2016. Specifically, QuickStarter for PowerPoint helps users create new presentations by creating a set of default slides.

Type in a topic, and QuickStarter creates a curated outlined, some recommendations on categories, associated Creative Commons images, and research suggestions. QuickStarter is available in PowerPoint 2016 for Office Insiders in the Fast ring.

Next up are some enhancements to the Word 2016 Editor feature, which provides real-time writing assistance to users. The new Editor pane provides more information in terms of advanced spelling, grammar, and style recommendations, and enables users to scan entire documents in one place. The Editor pane replaces the old Spelling & Grammar pane, and is available to the Office Insider Fast ring.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Microsoft also provided a review of some new functionality that’s been released in the past few months. Office 2016 for Mac now supports the Touch Bar on 2016 MacBook Pro machines, providing task-specific virtual function keys. And Cortana can now scan Outlook.com and Office 365 email messages for promised tasks and automatically generate reminders that show up in Windows 10.

Cortana Suggested Reminders

Finally, Microsoft has improved security in Office 365 with a few new features. First up is Office 365 Secure Score, a security analytics tool that helps organizations understand their security configurations and what actions to take to improve security and reduce risk. Office 365 Intelligence keeps organizations aware of potential cyber threats and provides information from the Microsoft Intelligence Security Graph.

Overall, Microsoft’s February 2017 set of updates to its Office productivity suite is all about leveraging the company’s machine intelligence capabilities to make working in Office easier and more secure. Note that a few of the newest features are only available to Office Insiders, and you can sign up here to participate in that preview program.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Coppock
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
6 things you didn’t know you could do in Microsoft Word
A person using MS Word.

The first thing you fire up when you have a research paper, resume, or another important document to type up is likely Microsoft Word. There are lots of great things you can do with it, but there are also some secrets in Word that might surprise you.

Here are six things you didn't know you could do in Microsoft Word. We'll touch all the bases, including voice dictation, cropping images, and much more.
Voice dictation

Read more
How much is Microsoft Office?

The Microsoft Office app on PC.

Microsoft Office is one of the world’s most popular office suites, providing applications that enable you to create documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and databases, as well as manage your email. The suite can consist of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, and Access, depending on the version you select. Additional services such as OneDrive cloud storage space are also included with specific bundles. Let’s take a look at how much Microsoft Office will cost depending on your needs.
If you want Microsoft Office for free
Use Office.com
You’re not going to receive the best Microsoft Office experience without the company’s premium, feature-packed desktop applications and included services. Still, if you need a free option, you can turn to Office.com. Online applications feature more limited versions of Microsoft Word for document writing, Excel for spreadsheets, and PowerPoint for presentations. There is no online access included for more advanced applications such as Publisher or Access -- additionally, you are limited to OneDrive’s free storage tier.

While you may be able to get by with the free edition, some users will find themselves confined by the web version’s limited capabilities. For more information on the full-featured versions of Office for Mac and PC, as well as their mobile counterparts for iOS and Android, keep reading.
Grab Office free as a student
Are you currently a student? If you have a valid school email address, you can obtain a completely free version of Microsoft Office 365. Known as Office 365 Education, the bundle includes Word for document writing, Excel for spreadsheets, PowerPoint for presentations, and OneNote for note-taking. Students even receive free access to Microsoft Teams for easy collaboration with other students when working on projects. As Microsoft says, "It's not a trial -- so get started today."
If you are using Microsoft Office at home

Read more
Microsoft is phasing out the default Office font. Here’s what could replace it
MS Office Online screenshot of Word document

Microsoft needs your help to shape the future of its Office suite of products. Five new default fonts are in the works for Microsoft 365 -- which covers Word, Excel, and PowerPoint -- and Microsoft is seeking out feedback for which one is best.

The five new potential default font families are now available as a download for testing and have various themes. The list includes fonts with the unique names of Tenorite, Bierstadt, Skeena, Seaford, and Grandview. There's a separate artist behind each one, and the designs span different geometric, human, and industrial shapes, according to Microsoft.

Read more