Microsoft releases new Outlook for Mac, other Office updates coming in 2015

There’s a reason Microsoft’s latest version of Outlook for OS X leaked before the rest of its Office suite: the email client is ready, but other apps like Word and PowerPoint aren’t quite finished yet. Today Microsoft is launching a brand new Outlook for Mac, and Office 365 subscribers can download it right now. The company is promising “improved performance and reliability and a fresh look and feel that is unmistakably Microsoft Office,” and says this refresh brings Outlook on OS X closer in line with what users of the PC, web, and iPad Office apps have come to expect.

The user interface has been updated with a more modern look, smoother scrolling, and improved “agility” when switching between Ribbon tabs. It also delivers full push email support for Office 365 users and online archive support for digging through your archived Exchange mail.

As for the rest of Office, you’re in for a bit of a wait. Microsoft is promising to deliver betas of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote in the first half of 2015. A final consumer release will follow in the second half of the year. “Office 365 commercial and consumer subscribers will get the next version at no additional cost, and we will release a perpetual license of Office for Mac in the same timeframe,” Microsoft says.