Microsoft office suite holds a market share of 42% in the US as of April 2020. The number is undeniable evidence of the huge customer base of Microsoft 365 apps. The growing popularity has been steady due to the continuous updates released by Microsoft. To make the solutions easier to use, more convenient in functionality, and more efficient in solving problems, updates in terms of features and security are released every month. Microsoft has also made changes to the update channels for MS 365 Apps, introducing ‘Monthly Update Channel’ serving the purpose of the previous version ‘Monthly Channel,’ but more schedule oriented and predictable. While the new channel update is here, Monthly Channel will be renamed to the Current Channel. Let’s get to the details of what the latest feature update Version 2003 (Build 12624 20588) has for MS 365 Apps users
Microsoft Access
With the new update, users will find increased productivity in Query Designer, SQL view, and the Relationships window. You can right-click a table to open, design, size, and hide it, giving you everything in one place. The update will also allow us to search and replace text in SQL View. In the Relationship window, you can select multiple tables at once.
Microsoft Excel
Get easier array formulas that will allow you to type it in one cell, spilling value in multiple cells upon pressing enter. Easier than pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter, isn’t it?
In-App access to the links in an excel document. The new update frees you from transferring to the browser every time you hit a link in an excel sheet.
FILTER, SORT, SORTBY, UNIQUE, SEQUENCE, and RANDARRAY are the six new functions to make your life easier with excel spreadsheets. Learn more here
XLOOKUP is here allowing you to find anything row by row in a table
Another update allows you to reply to comments and mentions in the sheet right from the email. No need to go into the sheet itself. Another level of convenience and efficiency.
Microsoft Outlook
Searching a person in the outlook will give you the most relevant email suggestions, basically making your life easier as you can avoid going through various emails to find the right one.
A group naming policy update allows IT admins to maintain the groups on outlook based on the teams by departments. Also, the control goes with the IT department allowing a more formalized approach towards naming the groups.
No more switching to the calendar for a meeting. You can now access the calendar from your inbox with just a click and hop on the meeting, as your schedule suggests.
Outlook now detects and helps you get connected with wifi that requires a web page to sign in with.
Microsoft PowerPoint
The new update brings fast real-time collaboration in Powerpoint.
Increase connectivity by uploading videos to Microsoft Stream with access available to the peers in your organization. You can also upload YouTube or Vimeo video links in the PowerPoint and play them directly at a reduced size. Serves the purpose, with efficiency on the tool’s end.
No need to switch to a browser every time you open a link in a presentation. An in-app solution will help you stay fast and sharp.
Create looping Gifs in PowerPoint and find new possibilities to engage your audience.
Improved connectors and smoother ink conversion processes allow you to produce ideas more confidently in the shape of diagrams.
Changes made by other authors on the slides will be updated while the slideshow is on. It saves hassle, time, and helps avoid mistakes in time.
Microsoft Word
No need to switch to browser every time you open a link in a document. An in-app solution will help you stay fast and sharp.
Improved co-authoring by reflecting immediate real-time changes on the document made by different authors.
Microsoft Office Suite
Now you can open and interact with PowerPoint files even when the portions of it aren’t yet downloaded. Some presentations may have large videos or images attached, but this update will help you download the rest of the file, and access it while the large elements are finishing download.
Microsoft 365 is equipped with some of the most advanced tools to increase productivity, connectivity, and user experience, creating a direct impact on the culture of an organization. To modernize the workplace, Microsoft 365 allows you to work from anywhere across devices. It gives a new shape to IT, dodges the security challenges of data and access, thus being critically valuable to all the stakeholders of the organization.
As mentioned at the very beginning of this article, Microsoft Suite has an above 40% market share in the US. With the growing need for smart connectivity, this ratio is increasing at an incredible rate. It means that students and professionals who want to achieve a high success rate in their careers need now more than ever to be equipped with Microsoft Office 365 management and fundamentals. As more companies are adopting the software, career opportunities in MS 365 Administration are also on the rise. Another benefit of getting equipped with MS 365 Office is the trend that more established organizations are adopting it first, which means career opportunities will also appear in those organizations.
Enroll for the best Office 365 Management Training
QuickStart is an IT workforce readiness and career development platform having an official partnership with major technology vendors, including Microsoft, Cisco, ITIL, CompTIA, Oracle, and NetApp. You can get trained for Microsoft Office 365 Management Training exam (MS-100.1), passing, which will get you Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert certification. If you want to learn the fundamentals of 365, you can get trained for Microsoft Office 365 Fundamentals Training exam (MS-900.1), passing which will get you Microsoft 365 Certified: Fundamentals certification. The platform is equipped with artificial intelligence to give you personalized learning experience, along with multi-modal content delivery to suit your learning style.
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