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Is it better to keep users hooked on Office and Exchange whatever computer or device they use, or to preserve a key selling point for Windows, given that many business users live in Excel, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint.

But a first look at the new Office 2016 preview suggests that Mac Office, while improving, has yet to catch up with Office 2013, let alone with whatever may be in the new Windows Office thats expected later in 2015.

Another possible compatibility headache is that Outlook 2016 only supports Exchange 2010 or higher.

The preview can work alongside Office 2011 and will run for up to 60 days.

The curvy app icons in Office 2011 were unique, while the Office 2016 icons are the same as those on Windows.

The ribbon in Excel 2016 looks more like Excel 2013 than Excel 2011 for Mac, complete with the washed-out effect that was part of Microsofts content-first strategy.

There are still obvious differences, though; for example, menu headings are in all caps only in Office 2013.

Opening documents from and saving them to either the consumer or business versions of OneDrive is built-in, and the Open Recent feature now shows you recent files across all your computers presuming you have signed into a Microsoft account.

But in fact the look, feel, and performance of Office 2016 are all substantial advances from Office 2011, and there are many small changes I havent mentioned.

If you use Office 365 or personal OneDrive, Office 2016 works smoothly, where with the the previous version it was a struggle.

Even though it is a couple of years on from Office 2013, there is hardly anything here that is not already in the Windows edition; this is a partial catch-up.

And while Excel for Mac now has PivotTable slicers, what about PowerPivot, which has been available on Windows since Excel 2010.

There is hope that in time Mac uses will not have to suffer an inferior Office.

Excel 2016 For Mac Print Preview