Microsoft got a lot of experience in preparing for Windows as a Service (Waas) by undertaking a similar system called Software as a Service (SaaS) with their Office 365 subscription suite.
The Office 365 team even uses something similar to the Current Branch, Current Branch for Business and Long Term Servicing Branch channels that are used with Windows 10.
For Office 365 they are called Current Channel, Deferred Channel and First Release for Deferred Channel and you can read more about them here.
Every month a new set of updates are released for Office 365 and depending on what channel you and your users are assigned to those updates could land on users systems in the near future.
The Office 365 team details these monthly updates over on the Office blog and today they have all the details for the May 2016 updates ready for you to learn about.
Here is a quick rundown of what you can expect in this batch of updates:
- Real-time chat in web versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.
- Skype for Business chat in Outlook on the web.
- Watch face support for Outlook for Android Wear.
- Improved language support for Outlook for Mac.
- OneDrive and Skype for Business integration in Outlook for iOS and Android.
- Pre-populated attachments in Skype meetings.
- Share documents from SharePoint libraries, Office 365 Groups and OneDrive for Business using OneDrive for iPhone and iPad.
- Copy files form OneDrive for Business to a SharePoint team site or Office 365 Group via the web.
- New Discover view in OneDrive for Android uses Office Graph to speed up searches.
- Updated SharePoint mobile app provides connection to your company content and sites. Coming to iOS in June and then Android and Windows later this year.
- AutoCAD 2013/2010 fie support in Visio Pro.
For Office 365 Home or Personal customers you can sign up for Office Insider to get early looks at these and other updates for Office 365.
But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.
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