Office 2016 pegged for late September release

PowerPoint 2016

Microsoft Office 2016 for Windows may finally get its release next month after marketing materials leaked out indicating the expected release date. You can read the review of Office 2016 for Mac here.

First reported by WinFuture.de, a screenshot showing retail materials listed September 22, 2015 as the date when Office 2016 will gets its long awaited release and bring new versions of all the old Office favourites into the Windows 10 era.

"On September 22, 2015, we'll release Office 2016 – with updates for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Skype for Business, Project, Visio, Access and Publisher. The innovation wave continues in Q2 with the release of Office 365 E5 and Skype for Business, and on-premise servers will follow," read the materials.

Microsoft has been putting the buffers on the Office 2016 release for Windows 10 in order for the touch versions to be brand new when Windows 10 Mobile finally gets its release at around the same time as the producitivity suite.

Free for mobile users

As for features, the current preview gives a pretty good idea of what we can expect with features such as real time presence in Word, simpler file sharing, Insights in Office, Version History improvements and various other small additions.

All in all, the new suite will be very much geared towards the cloud and touch. Rumour has it that the price tag will be non-existence for smartphone and smaller tablet users whereas it'll cost just £95 (around $145, or AU$185) for the Office Home & Student 2016 edition with prices increasing from there.