Office 2019: Everything You Need To Know
The commercial version of Office 2019 is expected to hit shelves this October. Microsoft promises users who “aren’t quite ready” for the cloud, a way to work more creatively, securely and productively with an on-premises suite of tools.
Should we be excited about Office 2019?
Office 2019 is a ‘perpetual’ version of Office, meaning that you only pay once and own the applications forever – a bit like how it used to be. It differs from subscription-based services like Office 365, which require you to pay a monthly or annual fee.
Due to the ‘perpetual’ nature of Office 2019, you’ll have to wait until a major release in order to gain access to new capabilities. The benefit of subscribing to Office 365 is that you can access the latest features as they are built
Essentially, Office 2019 is Microsoft’s answer for those businesses who want to stick with a software package that remains on-premises and doesn’t rely on the cloud
Today, we’re taking a closer look at Microsoft’s latest offering to help you make the decision whether or not it’s for you.
What’s new with Office 2019?
Excel
Spreadsheet wizards benefit from extra functionality within Excel. You can enjoy new and exciting chart types, such as funnel charts and 2D maps, which help you to record trends and gain a fresh insight into your data.
PowerPoint
Presenters can now create thought-provoking and eye-catching slideshows using Zoom. You can also add 3D imagery and move objects around with your pen using a roaming pencil case – very fancy!
Word
At the heart of the Office suite, Word now boasts an enhanced translator tool, text-to-speech technology and improvements to its accessibility.
Outlook
The Office Email client has also received a bit of a makeover. Microsoft has updated contact cards, created Office 365 groups and you can now @mention your co-workers in messages.
Is Office 2019 for me?
In short, it’s entirely up to you.
Office 2019 is set to be a valuable investment for those organisations
that wish to keep some or all of their programmes on-site, rather than relying on the cloud.
It’s great for those who use the basic apps – Word, PowerPoint and Excel – but who feel they wouldn’t truly benefit from Microsoft’s latest releases
Many critics are suggesting that Microsoft would prefer their customers to switch to the subscription-based Office 365, especially after the tech giant announced a 10% price increase for commercial buyers of the new software.
Office 365 does bring about many benefits for customers. Advantages include up-to-date upgrades, cloud-based storage and the choice to scale up or down depending on the services you need.
However, if you’re looking for a one-off payment for a nifty set of apps, Office 2019 could be for you
It’s also important to remember that those subscribed to Office 365 will get an Office 2019 upgrade as part of their subscription.
If you need further advice on Office 2019, please get in touch with a member of our team, today.