Four months after preview, Microsoft adds Touch Bar support to latest Office betas

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Mac Software edited August 2020
After teasing Touch Bar support for the omnipresent Office in October, Microsoft has added preliminary support for the MacBook Pro feature in its most recent build for the "slow ring" of its beta testers.




First spotted by The Verge, the addition has been a long time in coming. Support for the Touch Bar was teased just hours after the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar debuted.

In Powerpoint, the company has implemented graphic rotation tools, as well as a graphical map of all the slide layers. Microsoft Excel has added an auto-fill formula bar, pulling up the most recently used functions in the Touch Bar when a cell is selected. Excel's bar also now includes formatting options, like cell colors, and borders.

The touch bar on Outlook now provides quick access to the user's most commonly used commands. While composing a mail, the Touch Bar displays a list of recent documents for inclusion in an email, with communication facilitation through Skype possible through a single touch.

Microsoft Word's implementation is "Word Focus" mode, where the formatting ribbon for an open document are taken off the screen and put on the Touch Bar.



Initial AppleInsider testing of the features has resulted in a few application crashes above and beyond the normally rare instabilities experienced by most Mac users of the suite. The Touch Bar-related crashing is expected, however, given the beta nature of the release.

It it not yet known when the Touch Bar support will exit beta.

Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions begin at $69.99 per year for a one-user personal license, or $5 per month per user for businesses.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    thedbathedba Posts: 763member
    Awesome. Now the only thing I desire is a touchbar magic keyboard hopefully coming early this year. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 11
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,925member
    It's good that other companies are supporting the touch bar, but I'm a bit surprised that Microsoft is. Either way, I hope they do a better job than their ribbon interface (yes, I'm setting the bar low!)

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 11
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    I really hope Apple releases a USB (and Bluetooth) keyboard with the touchbar (and TouchID). I'm not sure how they'd make sure TouchID is secure, but I'm sure they could figure it out. And they better not be stupid and say you need the latest Mac to use it either. That would just be Apple being Apple at its best right there. I can see you have to be using macOS Sierra, but anything that runs macOS Sierra should support it. 

    it would also be nice if they'd redesign the entire keyboard. No more friggin white keys! It doesn't match their current designs. How hard would it be to make a nice LED backlit keyboard with black keys?
  • Reply 4 of 11
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    MplsP said:
    It's good that other companies are supporting the touch bar, but I'm a bit surprised that Microsoft is. Either way, I hope they do a better job than their ribbon interface (yes, I'm setting the bar low!)

    Under new leadership Microsoft is not the anti-competitive beast it used to be. Microsoft makes a fuckload of money off of Mac and iOS users so why not support them.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 11
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,877member
    macxpress said:
    I really hope Apple releases a USB (and Bluetooth) keyboard with the touchbar (and TouchID). I'm not sure how they'd make sure TouchID is secure, but I'm sure they could figure it out. And they better not be stupid and say you need the latest Mac to use it either. That would just be Apple being Apple at its best right there. I can see you have to be using macOS Sierra, but anything that runs macOS Sierra should support it. 
    That isn't necessarily true. I'm running the latest macOS on an older imac, but it doesn't have the needed BT hardware to do things like unlock with apple watch, hand off, etc.. Hardware requirements exist for a reason, and it's not because they're twirling their wax mustaches while scheming to ruin their customers' day. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 11
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    StrangeDays said:
    macxpress said:
    I really hope Apple releases a USB (and Bluetooth) keyboard with the touchbar (and TouchID). I'm not sure how they'd make sure TouchID is secure, but I'm sure they could figure it out. And they better not be stupid and say you need the latest Mac to use it either. That would just be Apple being Apple at its best right there. I can see you have to be using macOS Sierra, but anything that runs macOS Sierra should support it. 
    That isn't necessarily true. I'm running the latest macOS on an older imac, but it doesn't have the needed BT hardware to do things like unlock with apple watch, hand off, etc.. Hardware requirements exist for a reason, and it's not because they're twirling their wax mustaches while scheming to ruin their customers' day. 
    What about a USB one? I'd rather have a USB one anyways. I'm not a fan of wireless keyboards and mice, but I know there are users that love them so thats why I said make both. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 11
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    macxpress said:
    StrangeDays said:
    macxpress said:
    I really hope Apple releases a USB (and Bluetooth) keyboard with the touchbar (and TouchID). I'm not sure how they'd make sure TouchID is secure, but I'm sure they could figure it out. And they better not be stupid and say you need the latest Mac to use it either. That would just be Apple being Apple at its best right there. I can see you have to be using macOS Sierra, but anything that runs macOS Sierra should support it. 
    That isn't necessarily true. I'm running the latest macOS on an older imac, but it doesn't have the needed BT hardware to do things like unlock with apple watch, hand off, etc.. Hardware requirements exist for a reason, and it's not because they're twirling their wax mustaches while scheming to ruin their customers' day. 
    What about a USB one? I'd rather have a USB one anyways. I'm not a fan of wireless keyboards and mice, but I know there are users that love them so thats why I said make both. 
    I'd be very surprised if Apple made another wired keyboard. They don't really like wires. 

  • Reply 8 of 11
    NotsofastNotsofast Posts: 450member
    Rayz2016 said:
    m. 
    I'd be very surprised if Apple made another wired keyboard. They don't really like wires. 

    Just curious, when was the last time Apple made a wired keyboard?  I've not seen one in years or got one with any of the many Macs I have bought.  Have I just not been been paying attention?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 11
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    Rayz2016 said:
    macxpress said:
    StrangeDays said:
    macxpress said:
    I really hope Apple releases a USB (and Bluetooth) keyboard with the touchbar (and TouchID). I'm not sure how they'd make sure TouchID is secure, but I'm sure they could figure it out. And they better not be stupid and say you need the latest Mac to use it either. That would just be Apple being Apple at its best right there. I can see you have to be using macOS Sierra, but anything that runs macOS Sierra should support it. 
    That isn't necessarily true. I'm running the latest macOS on an older imac, but it doesn't have the needed BT hardware to do things like unlock with apple watch, hand off, etc.. Hardware requirements exist for a reason, and it's not because they're twirling their wax mustaches while scheming to ruin their customers' day. 
    What about a USB one? I'd rather have a USB one anyways. I'm not a fan of wireless keyboards and mice, but I know there are users that love them so thats why I said make both. 
    I'd be very surprised if Apple made another wired keyboard. They don't really like wires. 

    As a person who buys Macs for our school I'd be more than pissed if I had to put in a lab of iMacs with bluetooth wireless keyboards and mice. Thats just asking for trouble. Dead batteries, stolen keyboards and mice, keyboards getting swapped around so a keyboard on iMac #1 is actually for iMac #10,etc, etc. Its just not good for a lab environment. 

    Notsofast said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    m. 
    I'd be very surprised if Apple made another wired keyboard. They don't really like wires. 

    Just curious, when was the last time Apple made a wired keyboard?  I've not seen one in years or got one with any of the many Macs I have bought.  Have I just not been been paying attention?
    Apple still makes a wired keyboard today. Its the same keyboard they've had for the past 5 or 6 yrs. The aluminum extended keyboard with white keys. You can configure a desktop Mac today with a wired keyboard and a wired mouse. Its just not standard so you're probably always seeing bluetooth ones as that is what Apple includes standard with their desktop Macs. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 11
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,925member
    The iMacs are beautiful machines, but I've always found the location of the USB ports to be a royal PITA. The single best part of the wired keyboards is they give you 2 convenient USB ports. And they never need to be charged. And they're cheaper. And they have a numeric keypad... Guess there are several advantages to the wired keyboards. 

    StrangeDays said:
    macxpress said:
    I really hope Apple releases a USB (and Bluetooth) keyboard with the touchbar (and TouchID). I'm not sure how they'd make sure TouchID is secure, but I'm sure they could figure it out. And they better not be stupid and say you need the latest Mac to use it either. That would just be Apple being Apple at its best right there. I can see you have to be using macOS Sierra, but anything that runs macOS Sierra should support it. 
    That isn't necessarily true. I'm running the latest macOS on an older imac, but it doesn't have the needed BT hardware to do things like unlock with apple watch, hand off, etc.. Hardware requirements exist for a reason, and it's not because they're twirling their wax mustaches while scheming to ruin their customers' day. 
    As a rule, Apple is far better than most companies at supporting old hardware. I just recently replaced my 2009 iMac. It was still running quite well on ElCapitan but would not run Sierra. (Reportedly there exists a hack that will let you install Sierra, but I haven't tried it.) Even if all the features weren't fully supported I have absolutely no cause to complain. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 11
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    MplsP said:
    The iMacs are beautiful machines, but I've always found the location of the USB ports to be a royal PITA. The single best part of the wired keyboards is they give you 2 convenient USB ports. And they never need to be charged. And they're cheaper. And they have a numeric keypad... Guess there are several advantages to the wired keyboards. 
    I solved that by getting a USB 3 Hub. Never again do I have to reach around behind the display to find a USB port. 

    https://www.amazon.com/Plugable-7-Port-Aluminum-SuperSpeed-Adapter/dp/B00D7P6176/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1486585726&sr=8-3&keywords=pluggable+usb+3.0+hub
Sign In or Register to comment.