Microsoft kicks off a new “Office Insider” program
In the wake of the successful Windows Insider program, which has served, and continues to serve the purpose of improving Windows 10 with each update, Microsoft has started a new Insider program, this time centered around the 2016 edition of its flagship productivity suite, Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Office 2016 was introduced, and majorly showcased, oddly enough, at the latest major Apple keynote event, at the Graham Hill Auditorium in San Francisco, and demonstrated as part of the array of major apps designed to work with the Apple iPad Pro, which included also Adobe Creative Cloud apps, and several other apps centered around artistic applications.
With Microsoft Windows 10, the software giant introduced the concept of “Software As Service”, changing the way software is installed and configured, from a stand-alone, offline process, into a more dynamic, mobile app-like process, that is largely automated, and kept up to date via an Internet connection.
The success of this idea has found validation in both home users and, especially businesses, who have seen the fastest recorded upgrade rate to a new operating system, across all enterprise categories.
Much like Windows 10, Microsoft Office 2016 is very much bound to an Internet connection, as far as installation and deployment. By the same principle, there is no reason why users shouldn’t be allowed to provide feedback, and contribute to the improvement of the productivity suite, in a similar way as Windows Insiders have been doing.
This is especially true, as Office 2016 is available on PCs, tablets, phones, and across operating systems other than Windows 10, such as Mac OS X, iOS and Android. In a sense, an Office Insider program is even more necessary, as it would be otherwise very hard to pinpoint compatibility problems and issues across completely different operating systems, both on mobile and desktop devices.
How to join
Microsoft has created a sign-up page to get started, at https://products.office.com/en-us/office-insider, where Office 2016 subscribers can join the program and download the Office Insider build.
Similarly to the Windows Insider program, Office Insiders will have the weigh the pros and cons of installing experimental, and sometimes untested software on their computers. On one hand, Insiders are treated to early updates, and access to higher-level forums where they can find answer to beta-related questions. On the other hand, they will be faced with occasional software instability, which may, or may not affect the host operating system as well.
No “free” Office for Insiders
While Windows Insiders started off a year early with a free copy of Windows 10, this won’t be the case with Office Insiders.
As previously hinted, Insiders are required to be active Office subscribers, in order to join the program. This means, that even the Insider Build of Microsoft Office will not be operational without a subscription.