A new version of Office for Mac is official now as Microsoft has confirmed that the new suite is coming sometime later this year.
According to a new report from Computerwoche (via Macworld), Thorsten Hübschen, a Microsoft representative, at the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany, confirmed that the new Office Mac version dubbed Office for Mac 2014 is arriving this year.
The Office for Mac 2014 will be the first major release of Office for Mac since Office Mac 2011 was released almost four years ago,
Hübschen also revealed that Microsoft is carrying out discussions regarding the new Office for Mac suite with its partners behind closed doors.
The Office for Mac update has been long awaited as the version available today, Office:mac 2011, lacks some of the most important features in terms of a revamped interface, new PowerPoint templates, broader Excel tools and visualisation of scheduled tasks that are currently available on Office 2013 for Windows.
Hubschen said the new Office for Mac software was first slated for a spring 2014 release, but due to some unknown reasons Office for Mac team will be missing the spring timeline. He also indicated that there should be more news coming in the second quarter of this year.
Another Microsoft representative confirmed the next version of Office for Mac saying that “The team is hard at work on the next version of Office for Mac.”
“While I don’t have details to share on timing, when it’s available, Office 365 subscribers will automatically get the next Office for Mac at no additional cost.”
The software giant has also hinted an Office release for the iPad in the near future; however, the company has never officially confirmed the reports.