Should We Be Using Microsoft Office 2019?
As an IT Services Company in Naperville, we get asked these questions almost every day. Now that it’s available, everyone wants to know what Office 2019 is all about. Office 2019 provides a subset of features that Microsoft has been adding to Office 365 over the past three years.
Office 2019 is a local version of office software (not cloud-based). It’s a perpetual release, meaning that you purchase the product once and you own it forever instead of paying for a subscription to use it.
Who Will Benefit From Using Office 2019?
Although anyone can purchase Office 2019, this version has been designed for business users. It comes with volume licensing and is best for companies that don’t want to use the cloud-based version of Office. You can also install the Office 2019 apps on all your mobile devices, where you’ll have access to its basic features.
Are There Any Specific Requirements for Using Office 2019?
It’s supported on all devices that run Windows 10 or the three most recent versions of macOS. If you are still using Windows 8.1 or Windows 7 (hopefully you aren’t) you’ll have to purchase a subscription for Office 365 to use Office 2019. It supports macOS, macOS Sierra (10.12), Mojave (10.14), and High Sierra (10.13).
What Are The Advantages Of Using Office 2019?
With Office 2019 you can use Microsoft’s latest versions of:
Word: Word has a new look and is black themed. However, it has all the features that you’re used to. Plus, Word in Office 2019 has incorporated learning tools, a new text-to-speech feature and sounds that you can personalize.
Outlook: You’ll like Outlook’s improved user details, its support, and the look of the inbox. Some new features include:
- Updated contact cards
- Office 365 Groups
- @mentions
- Focused inbox
- Travel package cards
Excel: The 2019 version of Excel brings in some great new functions like Power Pivot, 2D maps, and Power Query enhancements. You’ll have access to new formulas, new charts (like funnel charts and 2D maps), and you can publish your work from Excel to Power BI.
PowerPoint: The new version improves the way you can manage images. You can even turn them into 3D views. And PowerPoint now comes with enhancements like Zoom and Morph for a more sophisticated and dynamic presentation.
OneNote: This is an entirely new release in Office 2019. It can replace OneNote 2016 (but the 2016 version is still available and supported until 2025). OneNote now has ink-to-text support. This means that you can convert your handwritten words into a typed text.
You’ll like these new features:
Inking: You’ll enjoy the new inking capabilities across all of Office 2019’s apps, such as pressure sensitivity, and the tilt effect that adjusts the ink’s thickness depending on the angle of the pen. It even has a roaming pencil case to store and organize your favorite pens, pencils, and highlighters to roam with across your different devices.
Easy Sharing: The new version of Office makes sharing easier. Office 2019 comes with a share button located on each application in the upper right corner of your screen. You simply make one click, and the document is shared. This lets you share documents in different departments and throughout your organization.
Smarter Attachments: In the earlier versions of Office, you had to attach a document to an email to send it to others. And you had to go searching for the file you needed. Now, if the document that you want to share was recently worked on, it will be displayed when you click on the share button in Outlook along with other recently worked on docs.
Improved Version History: Now Office 2019 comes with a History Section on the File Menu to make sure files are easily accessible.
Delve: This is a new tool that was integrated into Office 2016. It ensures that you have access to every aspect of your stored data. It includes documents shared or created in Office. This makes retrieving documents much easier.
As mentioned, Office 2019 is a standalone program for business users who either don’t want to use the Cloud or cannot access it. Because of this, most of the features included in Office 365 aren’t in Office 2019 such as the collaborative real-time editing features.
Microsoft advises that whether you move to Office 2019 or decide to go with Office 365, you shouldn’t delay. This is because Office 2016 cloud support will be dropped in 2020. And Office 2016 installs will be barred from connecting to Microsoft’s cloud-based services, including hosted email (Exchange) and online storage (OneDrive for Business), after Oct. 13, 2020.
Need more information about Microsoft products or IT in general? Check out our Tech Articles.
