MicrosoftIt’s only a few weeks now until Microsoft releases Windows 10 for free to many millions of Windows users around the world. To make its money back, it’s promoting the subscription based Office platform, and that means making it fresh and exciting for those that may have found alternatives over the years. One of the big themes with the new version will be collaboration, which is why in the latest update for the Office 2016 preview, Microsoft has added “real time presence,” to Word.

　　What that means is that multiple people can edit the same document at once and will even be able to see each other type in real time, though that latter feature will be added in a subsequent release. For now though, those using the preview build of Word 2016 will be able to see where in the document their fellow writers are editing.

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　　This feature will be initially made available for OneDrive for Business users, but will be rolled out more universally before long (thanks Thurrott).

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　　Another addition to the Office suite includes a new Share option for easier file sharing. That way users can share files and make them available to one another at the touch of a button, instead of copying them to a specifically shared directory.

　　There’s also Insights for Office, which adds web-based context to words and phrases within a document, allowing a reader to look up the meaning of a word, or a encyclopaedic entry on a person or place. A better listing of version histories will let users roll back to previous versions of documents and files if they so wish, with better understanding of the changes made between them and the current one.

　　To be able to try out Office 2016, you can download a trial of the software from the official page, or use an existing Office 365 subscription to gain access.