Microsoft Office has a brand new look
Microsoft recently unveiled a new default font for Microsoft 365 in the form of Aptos, and now the company has announced that Office is getting a visual refresh with a new default theme for Windows, macOS and Android users.
The theme is gradually rolling out, starting with Microsoft 365 insiders, and it is about more than just a new typeface. With a firm focus on accessibility, the new look means a change of color palette across all Office apps. There are plenty of other visual changes too, including increased line weights and new default styles in Word and Outlook.
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Microsoft said to be unbundling Teams from Office to avoid antitrust investigation
Following a complaint from Slack, Microsoft may have decided to stop bundling its Teams video conferencing software with Office.
A report says that the move comes as the Windows maker looks to avoid an antitrust investigation by the EU. The company has indicated its willingness to cooperate with the European Commission as it seeks to avoid further legal wranglings with the bloc.
Microsoft bows to feedback and reverses Quick Access Toolbar changes in Office
Microsoft has acknowledged that changes to the Quick Access Toolbar in Office were "disruptive and slowed […] workflow. Having used the Microsoft 365 Visual Refresh to hide the QAT toolbar by default and move various commonly used button, the company has listened to user feedback ad reversed its changes.
Among the complaints that ultimately forced Microsoft to perform the U-turn were criticism of the decision to relocate the Undo and Redo buttons. In announcing the about-face, the company does not really admit to making a misstep, merely that the previous change "wasn't quite right".
Ghostwriter: The AI-powered writing assistant for Microsoft Office [Q&A]
ChatGPT, OpenAI's flagship product, is a generative language model that is capable of generating natural language responses to a wide variety of prompts. Microsoft is bringing this AI functionality to many of its products, including Microsoft 365, but another company is already offering a powerful ChatGPT add-in for Microsoft Office.
We spoke to Ghostwriter's creator Patrick Husting about his product and plans for the future.
Microsoft insists that the Office-checking KB5021751 update does not infringe on privacy
In the middle of last month, Microsoft released the KB5021751 update to help the company "identify the number of users running out-of-support (or soon to be out-of-support) versions of Office".
Privacy advocates voiced concern about the update, which Microsoft said "will run one time silently without installing anything on the user's device" because of worries about exactly what the slightly secretive check was doing. Now the company has updated support documentation for the KB5021751 update, insisting that there is nothing nefarious about it.
Microsoft is using the KB5021751 update to see if you have an unsupported version of Office installed
Earlier this week, Microsoft released the KB5021751 update. Unusually it has no fixes or new features for users whatsoever -- it is an update purely for Microsoft's benefit.
Designed for Office 2007, Office 2010 and Office 2013, the slightly sinister-sounding update "will run one time silently" and gather information that is then fed back to Microsoft.
The Office Insider program is dead; long live the Microsoft 365 Insider program
Microsoft has killed off the Office Insider program, used to gain feedback from testers about new features and changes. The death is not one to be mourned, however -- it is followed by an immediate resurrection as the Microsoft 365 Insider program.
The rebranding is in line with Microsoft's announcement last year that Office 365 would become Microsoft 365. In addition to the change in name, the company says that it will be providing information and publishing blog posts about a wider range of products and services that fall under the Microsoft 365 banner.
Microsoft introduces 'update under lock' so Microsoft 365 apps can be updated without users interruption
Keeping software updated is not only an important part of keeping on top of security, but also making sure that you have access to all of the latest features and options. But installing updates can also be annoying and disruptive, with notifications interrupting workflow -- so Microsoft has come up with a solution.
The company has developed a new technique called "update under lock" that makes it possible to apply updates to Microsoft 365 apps while a machine is in idle or locked mode. Updates can be installed even if apps are running, and there are no notifications or disruptions to irritate users.
Behind the Microsoft Office compatibility drive, LibreOffice 7.4 still manages to surprise with more new features
The fourth major point release of The Document Foundation’s open-source, cross-platform office suite has landed. As with the previous release in February, LibreOffice 7.4 is targeted towards improving the experience for those migrating from Microsoft Office.
The focus on improving compatibility with Microsoft Office -- both for those migrating away from the platform and others who need to share documents with MS Office users -- is an ongoing process, and the 7.4 press release focuses a lot of attention on LibreOffice’s "highest level of compatibility in the office suite market segment".
Will Microsoft never learn? The company hits paid-up Office 2021 users with ads for Microsoft 365
There are various business models for software these days, ranging from simple purchases to subscriptions. There are also freemium apps and games that are cost-free but feature advertising. If you have spent money on software, you might rightly expect it to be free from ads, but not in the case of Microsoft Office 2021.
Microsoft is certainly no stranger to using its products -- such as Windows 11 -- as platforms to advertise other products and services. Office 2021 is just the latest example, with Microsoft using the software -- for which users have paid a one-off fee -- to advertise the subscription-based its Microsoft 365 products.
Microsoft performs an about-face on Office macro security policy -- albeit a temporary one
VBA macros in Microsoft Office are an incredibly common means of delivering malware, and this is precisely why Microsoft made an announcement earlier this year that macros would be blocked by default. But now the company has changed its mind.
The change will not be permanent, however. Microsoft still plans to block macros in documents obtain from the internet -- it's just not quite clear when. The company says that the change of heart is a result of user feedback, and while macros will remain enabled by default for the time being, this will change at some point in the future; it's just not happening as soon as we thought.
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Microsoft reveals workaround for Office zero-day vulnerability that can be used to launch malicious PowerShell commands
While Microsoft may be quick to point out security vulnerabilities in other companies' products, its own software is far from infallible. A good example of this is the recently discovered 'Follina' security hole that affects Microsoft Office.
The vulnerability can be exploited to launch PowerShell and execute a variety of malicious commands; all that a victim needs to do is open a specially crafted Word file. Tracked as CVE-2022-30190, Microsoft has released details of a workaround that helps to mitigate the issue.
Microsoft will disable Office VBA macros by default to block malware
In so many ways macros have made life easier for Office users, helping to automated and speed up a variety of tasks. But they also pose a gigantic security threat, particularly in documents downloaded from the internet.
Now Microsoft is taking action, and will block internet macros by default in Office. The reason for the move is the widespread exploitation of VBA macros by bad actors to spread malware.
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