Microsoft has released preview versions of Office 2016 and Skype for Business, both for Windows. Skype for business replaces Lync while Office 2016 adds several new features.
Beta versions of Office 2016 have already been tested by a closed group and Microsoft apparently felt the software is now mature enough for a public beta test. Microsoft does state that not all new features have made it to the preview release yet. According to the software giant the test version of Office 2016 is mainly targeted at IT professionals and developers.
Outlook 2016 now supports the MAPI HTTP protocol in the new renewed Office suite, also the performance of downloading and searching emails has been improved. Also multi-factor authorisation is now possible and adding images in Excel and Word has been improved.
Microsoft emphasizes that nothing has been changed in how macros and add-ons work, so documents created with older Office versions should not cause any problems. Despite its name, Office 2016 is expected to be released in the second quarter of this year.
Besides a preview version of Office 2016, Microsoft has also released a test version of Skype for Business. This VOIP software replaces Lync. Skype for Business strongly resembles the consumer version of Skype, but should be better manageable by IT administrators. Also the security level should be higher and there should be better integration with the other application of Office 2016.
