Why this matters: In the intervening five years since Microsoft last released a version of Office for the Mac (Office 2011!), numerous other office suites have put down stakes on the Mac, not the least of which has been Apple’s own iWork productivity suite. It includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Outlook, with a Mac-like feel to it all. We first explored Office 2016 for the Mac back in March, when Microsoft released a preview version of the software. Each Office subscripton also includes the rights to use Office on both iOS and Android, as well as Mac and Windows PCs. The supported Office 365 subscriptions start at $7 per month or $70 per year with Office 365 Personal, and also include the pricier versions of Office 365 Home, Business, Business Premium, E3, or ProPlus. Students can also check /student to see if they qualify for a free or discounted copy. If you do subscribe to Microsoft’s Office 365 subscription service, obtaining the new software should be a snap: just surf to Microsoft’s Office account page and follow the instructions. The only catch? If you’re not already an Office 365 subscriber, you’ll be forced to wait until September. After years of treating the Mac as an also-ran, Microsoft has changed its tune: Microsoft formally released Office 2016 for the Mac on Thursday morning, even before it released it for Windows.
