From Microsoft 365 to Teams here’s everything Microsoft announced last night

Microsoft announced that there was a 70% increase in the usage of Skype. It also announced a new feature for the video calling platform.

Microsoft also renamed Windows 365 to Office 365. (Microsoft)

Microsoft made a host of new announcements last night. The company apart from announcing upgrades to its communication platform, Teams, and video calling app, Skype, also announced several updates for its Windows 365 platform and products like Powerpoint and Excel.

"Today, we offer a powerful set of free applications and services that help you create, share, connect, and collaborate with your friends and family across the web and on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices...We are committed to improving and innovating on these experiences every day," Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft's Corporate VP of Modern Life, Search & Devices wrote in a blog post.

Here is the entire list of upgrades and updates that Microsoft announced last night:

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft announced a bunch of new features for its Chromium-based Edge web browser. Here are some of the key features:

-- Microsoft has added a Collections section in Edge that allows users to organise information from various sources pertaining to a particular topic in one file. Currently, this feature is being rolled out on desktop-based platform. It will be available on mobile-based platform later in Spring.

-- Edge is also getting vertical tabs that will help to easily find and manage many open tabs at once.

-- Another feature coming to Edge is Smart Copy. This feature makes it easier for users to store content from in the rich web format. This feature is expected to be available in the Insider channels next month.

-- Edge is also getting a tracking prevention feature that will make it easy for users to understand who is tracking them online. This feature will be available in three settings -- Basic, Balanced or Strict -- based on which Edge will adjust the types of third-party trackers blocked.

-- Microsoft Edge also allows Windows 10 users to watch 4K content on Netflix. It also features support for Dolby Audio and Dolby Vision on Windows 10.

Microsoft 365

Office 365 will become Microsoft 365 on April 21, 2020, and it will offer access to Office apps, OneDrive storage and more. Microsoft 365 Family plan costs $9.99 ( ₹800 approx) per month, and it covers up to six family members, while the Microsoft Personal plan costs $6.99 ( ₹600 approx) monthly.

Microsoft Editor

Microsoft's artificial intelligence-based grammar tool, Editor, will now be available on Word and Outlook.com and as a standalone browser extension for Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome.

Powerpoint, Word, Excel and Outlook upgrades

Microsoft also announced a bunch of upgrades for Powerpoint, Word, Excel and Outlook. Here are the details:

-- The monotone pitch feature in Powerpoint's Presenter Coach will listen to a user's tone of voice and give feedback in real-time to suggest adding some variation where needed.

-- The speech refinement feature in Powerpoint's Presenter Coach will give grammar suggestions including how to better phrase your speech. These new Presenter Coach features will be available to everyone through a free preview, and then eventually only to Microsoft 365 subscribers.

-- Microsoft 365 subscribers will get exclusive access to over 8,000 beautiful images, 175 looping videos from Getty Images, 300 new fonts and 2,800 new icons in Powerpoint, Word and Excel.

-- Microsoft 365 subscribers will also get access to more than 200 new premium templates across Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

-- Excel is getting a new Money in Excel feature that will allow Microsoft 365 subscribers to manage, track, and analyse their money and spending in one place. This feature will be available to users in the US first over the next couple of months.

-- The company is also adding new data types to Excel that will allow users to "make sense of your data as Excel provides deeper meaning for over 100 topics" including food, movies, places, chemistry and Pokémon.

-- Outlook is getting a new feature on the web that will allow users to manage their meetings and commitments in one place. "With these new features, you can link your personal calendar to your work calendar to show your real availability in your work account, while still maintaining privacy around the details of personal appointments and business meetings," Microsoft said in the blog.

-- Outlook's Play My Emails and voice-based Microsoft Search features are coming to Android soon.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is getting a consumer version called Teams for Personal Life that will make it easier for families and small groups to organise and coordinate events, share information and get on video calls.

Skype

Skype, which saw a 70% increase in usage in recent time, is getting a Meet Now feature that will let users create video meetings easily without any signups or downloads.

Microsoft Family Safety

Microsoft also announced a bunch of new features as a part of its Family Safety program. Here are the details:

-- Microsoft has introduced a Family Safety that will be available on iOS and Android for Microsoft 365 subscribers soon. It will "empower families to help protect their loved ones by giving them the tools and insights to start a conversation promoting healthier habits online and in the real world."

-- Microsoft Family Safety app will inform users about the location of a family member as they arrive or depart from a location like home, school, or work.

-- The Family Safety app will enable parents to protect their kids as they play games online and on their devices.

-- It will also enable parents to set usage limits online and on the devices used by their kids, which in turn will promote health digital habits. "Additionally, you'll be able to help steer them away from content that you feel is not age appropriate as they start browsing the web," the company added in the blog.

These features will be available on iOS and Android in coming months.