Microsoft’s 2015 lineup of software is now fully available in preview form for users wanting to get that complete Windows 10 and Office 2016 experience before full versions of both products arrive later in the year, and speaking of those releases Microsoft has also dated Windows 10’s final complete release for some point in June. Both next generation software packages have been in beta form for the last few months.
First off, Office 2016 has already been in a limited testing program for touch screen devices since the end of 2014, but now the opt-in program to get hold of the new version of Microsoft’s productivity suite has been opened up.
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Users can log into their Microsoft account and opt in to the beta on the link below. A confidentiality agreement, or ‘non disclosure agreement’ is in place and pretty much is the only thing that is required to download the software.
Of course, who is going to get hold of Office 16’s beta is completely down to chance, or however Microsoft sends out access to the program – once you opt in with an email address you could be in for a chance of getting hold of the software.
That non disclosure agreement does mean that you’ll be bound by secrecy if you get the software, but that hasn’t stopped Windows 10 testers from leaking details and screenshots of the supposedly secret beta version of the software before.
Meanwhile, Windows 10 has been revealed to be being released later this year in June, the final form of the operating system that is set to be a universal system across many devices. The June release will be a complete one, meaning retail packages will finally go on sale, or go out for free in the case of users who already have existing Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 licenses. The OS will be free for a year if you do have your old license key on hand.
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A new rumor has surfaced regarding Windows 10 in the wake of thew announcement – similarly to Office 365, Microsoft has trademarked ‘Windows 365’ with some believing that this heralds some kind of monthly payment service for Windows similar to the subscription version of Office that’s already out.
Could this mean a cloud based, constantly backed up monthly subscription version of Windows 10? It’s hard to tell right now, but if Windows 7 and 8.1 users are to get hold of the OS for free this might not become a viable option for Microsoft until the free year of Windows 10 ends.
Via: ZDNet
Source: Microsoft Connect (get it here)