SharePoint, along with One Drive and Retina Support, will be fully integrated into Office 2016 for Mac unveiled recently by Microsoft. According to reports, Microsoft is now offering a download of Office 2016 for Mac on its page, and some surprises are in store for users.
- Cloud-powered. Office for Mac is now powered by the cloud, so documents can be accessed from any location at any time. The upcoming productivity suite also integrates Office 365, OneDrive and SharePoint so that documents from both personal and work accounts can be accessed just by signing in on any device.
- Retina-optimized graphics. Microsoft has switched to Apple’s Cocoa APIs, so new apps will offer full Retina display support. Thousands of Retina-optimized graphics will be included, not just those focused on the canvas display.
- OS X 10.10 Yosemite. The new Office 2016 requires the latest Apple platform. This is good news for Apple in terms of selling new upgrades and devices, although some users of older platforms may not be happy.
- OneNote and Outlook stay the same. There will be few or no changes in the email program or in OneNote, the digital note-taking app. Full screen view and scroll bounce have been added to take advantage of Mac features.
Microsoft promises that Office 2016 for Mac will be updated regularly and that users will receive notifications through the Office for Mac Auto-Update tool roughly every 60 days. Microsoft promises to have the new Mac programs ready for availability this summer. There is no word on pricing.
The Benefits of SharePoint for Mac Users
SharePoint offers a host of benefits to those who want to utilize software that is flexible enough to serve as a self-contained file sharing system or operate via the cloud. Once a business decides to integrate SharePoint, one of the first things that must be decided is which platform to use. For Mac users, cloud sharing is very simple as Apple products tend to work well within the cloud community.
SharePoint offers easy access to thousands of documents and integrates seamlessly with Microsoft’s Office 365 suite. Whether you rely on an iOS platform or are trying to integrate Mac into your office’s work systems, SharePoint can give you the support you and your workers need to share information, collaborate on projects and store data safely and securely.