Office 2016 Comes to Windows Desktops

The Office 2016 desktop suites for Windows, released in Sept. 2015, are the latest versions of the software for Windows PCs. The suites provide new collaboration and presentation features in Outlook, Excel, Skype for Business, and other components, but some features depend on integration with online services such as OneDrive for Business or recent versions of on-premises server applications to unlock full functionality.

(For a timeline of current and future versions of the Office suite for Windows, see the illustration “Office, Project, and Visio Roadmap Overview“.)

Traditional Desktop Suites

The Office suites for Windows are Microsoft’s most widely used client applications for business. They enable document editing, data access and manipulation, e-mail, presentation, and collaboration on Windows PCs. The most important suites for large organizations are Office Professional Plus, Office Standard, and Office 365 ProPlus. Office Professional Plus and Office Standard, licensed Per-Device, are available through volume licensing programs exclusively. The Office 365 ProPlus suite is sold on a Per-User subscription basis and consists of the same applications as Office Professional Plus. Office Professional Plus 2016 suites start with the same features as Office 365 ProPlus, but will diverge over time as the Office 365 ProPlus suite receives additional updates and new features. These suites include combinations of the following applications: