Earlier this week, at its Ignite event in Orlando, Microsoft announced Office 2019. The firm described the release as "the next perpetual update for Office." Specifically, Microsoft Office 2019 will include perpetual versions of the Office apps (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and servers (including Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business).
Jared Spataro, General Manager, Microsoft Office, explained in a blog post on the official Microsoft Office site that "we recognize that moving to the cloud is a journey with many considerations along the way." Thus, he went on, "Office 2019 will be a valuable upgrade for customers who feel that they need to keep some or all of their apps and servers on-premises".
If you are one of those who "aren't yet ready for the cloud" you will be able to buy the Office 2019 software suite and enjoy the newest features Microsoft is enabling, such as:
- New and improved inking features—like pressure sensitivity, tilt effects, and ink replay—will allow you to work more naturally.
- New formulas and charts will make data analysis for Excel more powerful.
- Visual animation features—like Morph and Zoom—will add polish to PowerPoint presentations.
- Server enhancements will include updates to IT manageability, usability, voice, and security.
It appears to be too early to be more specific about the enhancements coming to respective members of the Office 2019 suite. The Office blog post states that previews of the new products will start to become available in summer next year, with the retail ready release of Office 2019 scheduled for H2 2018.
