Find out what's new in Office 2016 via IT Productivity Showcases

Microsoft officially released Office 2016 globally this week and users are beginning to explore the latest update to Microsoft's flagship office suite.

While the look of the programs in Office 2016 do not look much different than their predecessors it has been updated to enable better collaboration with a continued focus on cloud related storage and sharing features.

As everyone is getting this upgrade on their systems you may want to take a look at exactly what those changes are and see how you or your organization can take advantage of this update.

In order to help with that process Microsoft has published a series of white papers/guides for Office 2016 that are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center.

You can use these guides to help familiarize yourself and/or your users about the new features of Office 2016 and its most popular programs.

Here is a summary of those downloads:

What’s new in Office 2016

Microsoft Office 2016 helps you to do your best work—anywhere, any time, and with anyone. New, modern versions of the classic desktop applications Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access are built for maximum productivity. Quickly produce professional documents with rich authoring features, design controls for pixel-perfect layouts, and intuitive tools.

Be productive anywhere with Office 365

You are busy and need to be productive whether you are at your office, on the road, or at home. By installing Microsoft Office 365 for Business on your PC, tablet, and smartphone, you can keep up with your email and calendar, and work on documents, wherever you are.

Go paperless with OneNote 2016

OneNote makes your paper notebooks, index cards, and sticky notes obsolete, taming the “paper jungle” and raising your note taking to a whole new level. Microsoft OneNote 2016 makes taking notes a paperless activity, helping you become more organized, more productive, and more persuasive with your ideas than ever before.

Getting started with Excel 2016

With new chart types and improvements to PivotTables and business intelligence (BI), Microsoft Excel 2016 makes it easier to work with large amounts of data and give it even more meaning. Unlock insights, and tell the story in your data by organizing it in spreadsheets (workbooks). View your data in context, and use the analytic capabilities of Microsoft Excel to make more informed decisions.

Powerful presentations with PowerPoint 2016

Microsoft PowerPoint 2016 is here to help you create, share, and co-author powerful presentations across Microsoft Windows, iOS, and Android devices like never before. With new features—including modern chart types, screen recordings, and the Microsoft Office Mix add-in with enhanced screen recording functionality—PowerPoint 2016 allows you to bring your presentations to a whole new level.

Get started with Word 2016

Microsoft Word 2016 is a new, modern version of the classic desktop application, built for maximum productivity. Quickly produce professional documents using the rich authoring features. Share, present, and work together on projects with built-in team collaboration tools. Access your documents in the cloud whenever and wherever you need them. Your Word, always good, is now better than ever.

Email and calendar on the go with Outlook 2016

Use Microsoft Outlook 2016 to keep your world in sync and stay more connected. Microsoft Outlook helps you manage everything you do, no matter where you are. Get your emails, calendars, contacts, tasks, and to-do lists all in one place, in a clear, unified view. Because Outlook is built into Microsoft Office 365, you can sign in from any browser, tablet, or phone.

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