First Preview for Office 2019 Available

Microsoft has released a first pre-release version of Office 2019. The release, planned for this autumn, is primarily intended for users who only want to receive security updates and no regular feature updates, as in an Office 365 subscription.

In detail, Office 2019 consists of the desktop applications Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, Access, Project, and Visio, as well as the server applications Exchange, SharePoint, Project Server, and Skype for Business Server. According to the software company, the first previews for Exchange 2019, SharePoint 2019, Project 2019 and Skype for Business 2019 will be available in the coming months. A preview version for macOS is also planned.

The functionality of Office 2019 will not be different from Office 365 ProPlus. According to Microsoft, Office 2019 does not include features that are not already part of or previewed in Office 365.

Microsoft has announced in the recent past that Office 2019 will only run on Windows 10. This includes all supported Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel versions, the Windows 10 Enterprise Long Term Servicing Channel 2018 appearing in the fall, and the upcoming LTSC version of Windows Server 2018. Office 2019 users must be prepared for support changes. Thus, the time for the support of Office 2019 shortens. The mainstream support is expected to remain unchanged with five years, but the subsequent extended support already ends after two years and not after five years, as before. Interested users and companies need to register in the Microsoft collaborate portal to participate in the Office 2019 preview program.

Source: ZDNet