Office 2016 available in preview for Windows

A few weeks after a first glimpse for Mac OS, Microsoft has released a preview of Office 2016 for Windows users, compatible with every operating system from Windows 7 on.

A few weeks after a first glimpse for Mac OS, Microsoft has released a preview of Office 2016 for Windows users, compatible with every operating system from Windows 7 on.

Microsoft is promising regular updates to this preview version up until the official launch of

Office 2016

, expected to be in the fall of 2015 along with that of Windows 10. Windows is warning users though that this is beta software and is recommending that only experienced users test it out. Not only should you know how to reinstall your previous version of Office from the original installation point, but you should also know your way around a PC and feel comfortable troubleshooting problems, backing up data, and uninstalling and installing the

Office 2016

Preview to fix issues since the beta version is potentially unstable.

Favoring cloud storage and team work

This latest incarnation of Microsoft's famous office suite still includes Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote and Publisher. New elements mainly come in regarding cloud integration and the possibility of accessing your documents at any time regardless of where they are saved. For example, it is now possible to view documents in Outlook that were created in OneDrive, the idea being to simplify sharing and the way people can collaborate on any kind of document.

Other key improvements include the possibility for multiple people to work simultaneously on the same Word document, following each other's work in real-time, and a new intelligent assistant allows for easier access to commands needed for a particular task in Word, Excel and Powerpoint all through a simple query.

With Office 2016 now available in preview for both Windows and Mac OS, versions for smartphones and tablets operating Windows 10 should be coming soon. Across all platforms, Microsoft estimates that there are more than 1 billion worldwide users of Office.