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Office 2022 preview applications look nearly the same as those found in Office 2022

Microsoft is scheduled to launch Function 2022 for Windows desktop in just a few weeks — the start new desktop version since the launch of Office 2022 two and a half years ago. Afterward using the Preview version, what strikes me most is that Microsoft has clearly moved its focus and free energy away from the desktop to its deject strategy. While there are some prissy interface updates and a few new features, most users won't discover much of a divergence from Office 2022 for Windows. However information technology is a solid upgrade for those with an Function 365 subscription, and may be worth paying for if you need one of its smattering of new features.

Updated interface from Office 2022

With Part 2022, Microsoft has backed off a fleck from the ultra-flat design of Function 2022. Similar many others, I plant it harder to find items on the ribbon than with its earlier, more-textured interface. Microsoft Office 2022 doesn't bring back a 3D await, but it does apply a niggling more color-coding to make the ribbon easier on the eye and a piffling more user-friendly. The default theme is now Colorful, simply can hands be switched back, of course. The new version of the suite also adds support for 250% and 300% zoom settings for high-PPI screens.

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint become an additional interface characteristic in the form of a "Tell me what you want to practise…" field on the carte bar. It allows yous to type all or part of a command and and then click from a list of matches. While a nice addition for infrequently used commands, information technology is unlikely to please users who dislike the ribbon interface and desire the sometime-fashion menus back. I found it a lot quicker than clicking through the diverse ribbons, almost interim equally a mini help organisation in add-on to a command box.

Toolbars have been updated with an easier-on-the-eye look in Office 2022 but there are few substantive changes other than the addition of the Tell Me feature

Other than the interface tweaks, it isn't easy to find whatever functionality changes in Word and PowerPoint. They practise get the Ink to Math capability from OneNote (chosen Ink Equation), as does Excel. All three apps also get an expanded shape library. The biggest functionality upgrade in Word is amend support for real-fourth dimension collaboration. You can come across others changes and even their cursor location live.Word 2022 adds Ink Equations which works fairly well to allow you to format mathematical equations by simply writing them with a stylus or perhaps a mouse if you're really coordinated

 OneNote is frozen in time

Unfortunately for OneNote users, you'll notice that the toolbar for the 2022 version is identical to the 2022 version other than colour. There don't announced to be any new features in OneNote 2022 at all, which is a real shame. Even some of the almost annoying glitches — similar sub-sections expanding whenever you lot add a page to them — are preserved instead of beingness addressed. Send to OneNote also appears to exist missing, which would be fine if Office included a version of Microsoft's excellent new Snip tool that integrated with OneNote — but it doesn't. Presumably function of the reason for this is the try the OneNote squad has put into OneNote for Android, iOS, and Windows 10. It'southward great that they've made the application cantankerous-platform, simply a shame that it has come up at the expense of improvements in the total-featured desktop version.

Office 2022 has increased the use of contrasting colors to make navigation easier Here the Dark Gray themed toolbar is shown for OneNote 2022 and OneNote 2022

Backstage upgrade and tighter OneDrive integration

If yous don't follow Office evolution closely, you might non fifty-fifty know that Backstage is the name Microsoft has given the File handling and Options functions in Office. Microsoft has responded to user requests for improved usability by making the Browse button more visible in Save As and in Open, and rearranging the guild of storage locations to be more intuitive. Users tin can likewise do existent time collaborative editing in Give-and-take on their documents stored on OneDrive for Business or Office 365 SharePoint sites. Outlook users tin can have attachments apace uploaded to the cloud for easier sharing.

Outlook finally gets some dear

Outlook now provides a list of recently-accessed files for quick attachment to a messageOne application that does get some attention is Outlook. The 2022 version has a nice new feature that shows recently-used files when you go to add an attachment. Clutter, which debuted with Office 365, is also added to Outlook 2022. It uses machine learning to automatically sort your incoming email past pushing lower-priority items into a separate folder. Unfortunately, it is all the same server-based, so you need to enable it using the Spider web version of Outlook and make certain whatever inboxes you want to filter are available to information technology.

Searching in Outlook adds a new feature that notices if y'all are looking for a person and automatically shows you your correspondence with them. In my testing with the current preview version, I couldn't get this to work, only information technology should be a overnice improvement over having to type in total names of people to filter your email. Adding attachment also gets a squeamish new characteristic where you can see all your recently used files apace — since those are the ones you're most likely to want to attach. You can also cull to send but a link to your OneDrive documents instead of the entire file.

Personally, I'thou a very-heavy Outlook user and didn't similar many of the interface changes introduced with Outlook 2022. I still use the 2022 version on nigh of my systems (fifty-fifty the ones where I utilize the rest of Office 2022). The good news is that the new features in Outlook 2022 plus the easier-to-see coloring of the ribbon and carte confined mean I'll exist upgrading to information technology as before long as all my favorite add-ins are supported (Cloudmark does not have back up for it yet).

A take hold of bag of other new features

Microsoft has as well included a number of new, somewhat esoteric, features, including:

  • Some new financial, statistical, and hierarchical nautical chart types
  • Dynamic data linking between Visio and Excel
  • Power Query at present integrated into Excel
  • Pivot Nautical chart, Power Pin and PivotTable upgrades
  • Comeback in Click-to-Run management for It pros
  • Data Loss Protection added to Excel
  • Multi-factor authentication using Active Directory
  • More secure translation options (now use SSL and have more-consistent privacy warnings)

You can go more details on the specifics of these features from the Office Support website. Microsoft is also standing to take suggestions from users during the Preview with some indication that additional changes will be made before the final release, but it seems a little tardily to exist doing anything major at this point, then I'd look the final release to exist very similar to what nosotros've seen so far. Users of Windows tablets, can also already download Microsoft's Role Mobile suite.

Should you upgrade to Part 2022?

If you already take an Office 365 subscription, or the option to get the 2022 version of Office with a new motorcar, I can't meet any reason non to become with it. You get some interface improvements and a smattering of new features. If you have a perfectly usable Office license already and would demand to purchase the upgrade, I don't run into it beingness worth the money unless you are a heavy user of OneDrive or part of a corporation that needs the new security features or peradventure real-fourth dimension collaborative editing in Word.