In a surprising shift from its recent focus on subscription-based software, Microsoft is reportedly planning to release a new standalone version of its Office suite in 2024. This latest iteration, dubbed Office 2024, is currently in development and is expected to hit the market in the third or fourth quarter of the year.

The move comes amidst Microsoft’s increasing emphasis on its cloud-based Microsoft 365 service, which offers access to the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office applications for a monthly or annual fee. 

However, it appears that the company has recognized the continued demand for standalone Office versions, particularly among users who prefer a one-time purchase rather than ongoing subscription fees.

Some had speculated that Office 2021 would be the final perpetual license version of the product, but the company’s plans clearly indicate otherwise. The existence of Office 2024 was first uncovered within an internal preview build of Microsoft Office through the Click-to-Run (C2R) release API.

Specific details regarding the features and enhancements included in Office 2024 remain under wraps. However, it is likely that the new version will incorporate some of the features currently available to Microsoft 365 subscribers.

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In a recent blog post, Microsoft announced the end of an era for their beloved Calibri font, which has been the default font for Microsoft Office for the past 15 years. As technology has evolved and higher resolution screens have become the norm, Microsoft recognized the need for a new font that would embody sharpness, uniformity, and excellence in display type. And thus began the search for the perfect successor to Calibri.

Aptos strikes the perfect balance between professionalism and relatability

Microsoft commissioned five new fonts: Bierstadt, Grandview, Seaford, Skeena, and Tenorite, with the hope that one of them would become the new default font for Microsoft 365. After listening to user feedback, Microsoft chose Bierstadt as the font that resonated most with users. However, there was a change, and Bierstadt has now been renamed Aptos.

Aptos was created by Steve Matteson, a renowned type designer known for his work on the original Windows TrueType core fonts and Segoe. Steve drew inspiration from the landscape and climate of Aptos, an unincorporated town in Santa Cruz, California. The font reflects the versatility of its namesake, evoking the outdoors and the timeless appeal of pencil and paper.

Aptos, a sans serif font with elements of mid-20th-century Swiss typography, features clean-cut stem ends and subtle circular squares within the letters’ contours, enhancing legibility at small sizes. With different font weights and distinctive characteristics such as a lowercase “l” with a tail and circular dots for the heads of “i” and “j,” Aptos strikes a balance between professionalism and relatability.

Steve aimed to imbue the font with a touch of warmth and humanity, making it more engaging and trustworthy for readers. His design process starts with pencil and paper to preserve the handmade craftsmanship before digitization, ensuring that no nuances are lost in the transition from analog to digital.

While Aptos will now be the default font across Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel for millions of users, Microsoft acknowledges that fonts are personal choices. Therefore, they provide options like Times New Roman, Arial, and the other font contenders—Grandview, Seaford, Skeena, and Tenorite—for users to choose from. The new font is part of Microsoft’s broader wave of features aimed at making Microsoft 365 more expressive and inclusive.

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In a recent press release, Microsoft announced an exciting update for members of the Microsoft 365 Insider program. The company has introduced a new feature in the Microsoft 365 app, enabling users to sign PDF files directly from their mobile devices. This convenient addition aims to address the productivity needs of mobile users.

This new feature is available on both iOS and Android

In today’s fast-paced world, mobile devices have become indispensable tools for productivity on the go. Acknowledging the increasing demand for convenient solutions, Microsoft has responded by incorporating a PDF signing feature in their popular Microsoft 365 app. Now, users can effortlessly sign important PDF documents from both iOS and Android devices, eliminating the need for desktop access or external tools.

The process of signing PDFs through the Microsoft 365 app is remarkably straightforward. After opening a PDF file, users can navigate to the More section and select the Sign PDF option. This action leads them to the desired location within the document where the signature is required. By clicking on Create, users can generate their unique signature and apply it seamlessly to the PDF file. This streamlined approach ensures a hassle-free experience, empowering users to complete vital tasks while on the move.

Microsoft’s commitment to enhancing productivity shines through this addition to their mobile app. Whether it’s tax documents, lease agreements, contracts, or any other essential PDF file, users can confidently rely on the Microsoft 365 app to meet their signing needs. By eliminating the need for paper-based signatures or the use of separate signing tools, Microsoft has made it easier for professionals and individuals alike to keep up with their workflow.

Furthermore, the integration of this feature into the Microsoft 365 app underscores the company’s dedication to ensuring a cohesive experience across platforms. By providing consistent functionality on iOS and Android, Microsoft emphasizes its commitment to inclusivity and user convenience.

With the introduction of the PDF signing feature in the Microsoft 365 app for iOS and Android, Microsoft has empowered mobile users to stay productive while on the move. This user-friendly addition streamlines the signing process, making it simpler than ever to sign PDF documents directly from mobile devices.

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Microsoft, which has partnered with and invested in OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, is reportedly considering adding ChatGPT technology to its popular office suite, including Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

According to the report from The Verge, Microsoft is preparing to detail its productivity plans for integrating OpenAI’s language AI technology and its Prometheus Model in the coming weeks.

Microsoft is tentatively planning an announcement in March, highlighting how quickly the company wants to reinvent search and its productivity apps through its OpenAI investments. It is moving quickly with the integration of ChatGPT into its software and services because of competition from Google, which recently unveiled its own conversational AI technology named Bard. Microsoft had planned to launch its new Bing AI in late February but moved the date up to this week as Google was preparing to make its own announcements.

With the addition of this new technology, the move aims to improve efficiency and productivity by allowing users to perform more quickly and accurately. It will also assist users with language processing, the main feature of OpenAI’s technology.

In Microsoft Word, users could write more accurately and with fewer errors by suggesting alternative words and phrases. It could also summarize long documents and highlight key points for easily analyzing information. For Outlook, the Redmond-based technology giant could use ChatGPT to write replies to emails or summarize email threads.

As per the report, engineers and researchers at Microsoft have been working on tailoring AI tools for writing emails and documents for more than a year by using OpenAI’s machine learning models on customer data. They are now trying to figure out a way to train models using customer data without it being exposed to other customers, along with reducing errors.

Microsoft announced a new generative AI experience in Microsoft Viva Sales a week ago, which uses the Azure OpenAI Service and GPT to create sales emails, and it’s similar to some of the features Microsoft has been testing in Outlook.

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Microsoft has introduced a new all-in-one Office beta app, including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and other tools. It is another attempt by Microsoft to bring the professional editing tools in a single package on the Android platform. Microsoft already hosts separate apps on Android for its office tools such as Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, etc.

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The new Microsoft Office beta will let the users create, edit, and share different documents on the cloud or your Android smartphone. Multiple users are allowed to collaborate on a single project like Google Docs. Moreover, the Sticky Notes integration helps the users to dwell notes without using Sticky Notes App. The inbuilt conversion feature will efficiently convert photos, Word, Excel, photoshop, or Powerpoint file to PDFs. Another excellent feature is to sign the document and convert the file to the desired format.

The Office beta app consists of some powerful features like converting a document picture into an editable Word file on a single tap, transforming the table picture into a spreadsheet file, and allowing the powerpoint to create presentations by selecting photos from the phone automatically. It can even let you create a scanned image by enhancing the digital photos of whiteboards.

Microsoft Office beta even enhances the file sharing between your phone and computer or nearby mobile devices. The inbuilt capability to scan QR codes for opening files and links quickly is another striking feature.

It is not the first time that Microsoft tested an all-in-one Office app on the mobile platform. They tried on Windows Phone with the Office Hub app. It comprised of all the Office tools, including Excel, Word, powerpoint, and OneNote support.

The new app is currently in the beta stage, and for sure, it will have some bugs and issues.

Update: It appears Microsoft has pulled down the app from the Play Store. We have attached the source link of the app from the third-party website below.

(source, via)

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