Microsoft is today rolling out a new build of the Office apps to Insiders in the Monthly Channel, previously known as Insider Slow. Among a few other additions, the updates include the new ribbon announced back in June, featuring a new design for the tabs as well as new icons for the buttons in the ribbon. This change applies to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
Outlook is receiving a range of new features, starting with the "Coming soon" toggle announced earlier this month. Enabling this will allow users to try out a variety of new features before they roll out to everyone and provide feedback to shape the development of the app. It will now also be easier to book rooms with the ability to switch between room lists without losing previously selected rooms, and scheduling meetings should be easier thanks to attendee recommendations showing up when creating one. Lastly, Outlook will now correct your spelling in searches which should make it easier to find what you"re looking for.
Much like the update for Mac users earlier this month, those using Windows computers can now use @mentions in the Word and PowerPoint apps, with Excel apparently being left out in this case as well. The feature was originally announced nearly three weeks ago, and it should make it easier to bring your coworkers" attention to any specific part of a document. PowerPoint is also getting new proofreading tools to keep your grammar in check.
The highlight of the release is probably the updated ribbon, which should also make its way to the Office apps on the web and other platforms in the future. It"s currently unclear when this will come to customers outside of the Insider program, but it shouldn"t be too far off.