November was another month full of updates for Office 365. Partner Solution Consultant Jon Horner runs through the updates in the video above, and you can click through to the various announcements below.
OneNote for Windows Store v2.1
A major update for OneNote for Windows Store now available. Now with a redesigned user interface. Included are new views, enhanced sharing, improved ink, and more new features.
More Information: A BIG OneNote update for Windows note-taking devices
Download: OneNote
Folder Permissions and Calendar Delegation in Outlook Web App
You can now configure folder and calendar permissions in Outlook Web App to give delegates access to your inbox and other folders. This is particularly useful if you need someone like an admin to manage your inbox or calendar while you’re out of the office.
More information: Configuring delegate access in Outlook Web App
November 2013 Update for the Lync 2013 Desktop Client
Features included in the November Update:
- Photos of Sender/Receiver – View photos of sender/receiver inline with IM conversation
- URL Photo Experience– Set your own photo from a public web site instead of using the corporate image
- Login Trace Files– Easily access Lync client login logs
- New Recording Options –Choose preferred resolution for client-side recordings
More information: November 2013 Update for the Lync 2013 Desktop Client
Office Web Apps Update
Improved Online User Experience
- Real time coauthoring and presence across Office Web Apps
Excel Web App
- the ability to drag and drop cells
- reorder sheets
- open and interact with spreadsheet that have sheet protection
- see aggregates of the selected range (SUM, COUNT, AVERAGE, etc.) in the status bar
- insert Apps for Office
Word Web App
- ability to Find and Replace content
- apply styles to tables
- insert Headers and Footers
- see page numbers as placeholders, and
- Auto save
PowerPoint Web App
- crop pictures
More information: Collaboration just got easier: Real-time co-authoring now available in Office Web Apps
SharePoint Online
Get a Link
It is now possible to generate a Guest Link (an anonymous link to a document) directly in the SharePoint Online document library user interface. This will remove the step of sending an email to yourself to generate the Guest Link in order to utilize the Guest Link for non-email purposes - and it's quicker and more efficient
More Information: Get a Link
Touch Design
We are updating the default HTML5 "mobile view" in mobile browsers. Users accessing SharePoint on mobile devices will get an updated touch-friendly experience. The new experiences primarily target the Web views of a user's SkyDrive Pro, the Sites hub and default team site pages.
More information: SharePoint Online introduces the Touch Design mobile experience
Improved Sharing Emails - All on To... line
Now everyone you share with will be on the To... line. When you share with multiple people via the sharing dialog in SharePoint, SharePoint will send one email to everyone you shared with and cc you as the sender, rather than sending a separate email to each recipient. Note: external email addresses typed in the people picker will still send individual external invitations, since external invites need unique redemption links.
More information: SharePoint Online improves external sharing
Outlook
High DPI Improvements
The latest update of Outlook 2013 is now optimized for high pixel density screens on tablet devices.
Compact Message Header
In the latest update of Outlook 2013, the email message header in the reading pane can be collapsed to provide more screen space for the body of the email. Also, when the reading pane is too narrow to show all recipients in the message header, an indicator appears to tell you how many recipients are not shown.
Yammer
Yammer Channel Expansion
Yammer Enterprise will be included in O365 E1-E4, including Government and Non-Profits, for the Direct, Syndication, and Open channels with automated self service provisioning. Additionally, new SKUs Yammer Enterprise Standalone and SharePoint Online Plan 1/2 + Yammer will launch for Direct and Syndication Channels.
More Information: Getting it done with social: Yammer introduces new features, expands to all Office 365 enterprise customers
Identity
Windows Azure Active Directory Premium – PREVIEW
Windows Azure Active Directory Premium, which is currently in preview, provides a number of directory related features through the Windows Azure portal. Many of these will be very valuable for Office 365 customers. The new features for Windows Azure Active Directory Premium include
- Self-service Password Reset for Users
- Group-based provisioning and access management to SaaS apps
- Customizable access panel
- Machine learning based security monitoring and reports.
Stay tuned as there are additional features are planned in future previews. More information about Windows Azure Active Directory Premium in preview now is available here.
To stay completely up-to-date on the latest announcements, make sure to visit the Office 365 Message Center. This is where tenant-specific announcements or items requiring administrative action will be posted. The following blogs are where the product teams will release announcements about new features:
Technology-Specific Blogs
- Exchange Team Blog
- Office Web Apps Blog
- SharePoint Blog
- Project Blog
- Visio Blog
- Word Blog
- Excel Blog
- PowerPoint Blog
- Outlook Blog
- Lync Team Blog
- Access Blog
- OneNote Blog