Microsoft released its first preview build of Office 2016 to developers and IT professionals this past March. Two months later, the Redmond-based company invited all Windows users to try out its second preview build. Now, the popular productivity suite is ready for a proper launch.
Julia White, general manager of Office 365 Technical Product Management, revealed earlier today that Office 2016 will be broadly available starting September 22. Those with volume licensing will be able to download the suite from the Volume Licensing Service Center starting October 1.
As you might expect, it'll arrive with several new features in tow for desktop users including real-time collaboration, deeper cloud integration, the "Tell Me" helper (Clippy's spiritual successor) and additional color themes, just to name a few.
White's post largely targeted enterprise clients, detailing improvements to the Office update model, additional IT capabilities it affords and even upcoming live events and training classes.
News of the late September launch comes just one day after the company took the stage at Apple's fall media event to announce new Office features it has developed to take advantage of Apple's latest hardware and software. Microsoft has published an extensive blog post on the subject should you want to dig a bit deeper.