Microsoft Releases Revamped Outlook for Mac; New Office Coming Next Year

Microsoft released an updated version of Outlook for Mac on Friday, through the company's Office 365 subscription service, which costs $100 a year. Microsoft also said it plans to release a new version of its popular Office software package for Mac computers - but not until next year.

"Today we are announcing the new Outlook for the Mac, which delivers improved performance and reliability and a fresh look and feel that is unmistakably Microsoft Office," the Office 365 team wrote on Office Blogs. "This release offers a more familiar and consistent experience between Outlook on the PC, Outlook on the web and Outlook Web App (OWA) for iPad, iPhone and Android devices."

The new Outlook for Mac comes with improved performance, refreshed UI, online archive support for searching Exchange archived mail, Office 365 push email support for real-time email delivery, and other enhancements.

A full Office package for Macs was expected this year, as Microsoft usually releases that a year after it produces a new version for Windows. But there hasn't been a new Office for Macs since late 2010, even though it's already been a year and a half since the Windows release. Microsoft says that's because it has been concentrating on producing Office versions for smartphones and tablets first. The Office package usually includes word-processing (Microsoft Word), spreadsheets (Microsoft Excel) and other commonly used programs like Microsoft PowerPoint and OneNote.

"Historically we have released a new version of Office for Mac approximately six to eight months after Office for Windows," the blog post elaborated. "However, following the release of Office 365 we made the conscious decision to prioritise mobile first and cloud first scenarios for an increasing number of people who are getting things done on-the-go more frequently." This meant delivering and continuing to improve Office on a variety phones (iPhone, Windows Phone, and Android) and tablets (iPad and Windows)."

"In the first half of 2015 we will release a public beta for the next version of Office for Mac, and in the second half of 2015 we will make the final release available," the post added.

Written with inputs from AP