Microsoft will be releasing a few critical updates in the Office 365 productivity package this year for Business-level subscribers. However, in the search for bigger announcements with more media coverage, IT pros might find that these changes fly under their radar.
Here are some of the most significant implementations to be aware of:
64-Bit Office Installs
Updated Office ProPlus and Office 2019 installations will now be 64-bit by default, as of the end of January. Microsoft announcement about this was hidden among an Office 365 Admin Centre memo, which means you might not have seen it if you don't frequently check the notice board. The change may affect organisations that are reliant on specific 32-bit Office add-ins - the ones that Microsoft has recommended for quite some time.
However, there is potential to benefit from running 64-bit Office, as the system does offer better performance for operations that require a lot of memory. You'll find that your output improves when dealing with large Excel calculations and videos in PowerPoint. If you prefer to use 32-bit versions, they're still available - they just won't be installed by default.
Additional Changes to Office 365 Performance
Microsoft revealed a few other impending changes to Office 365 in a blog post recently, starting with the upcoming block against Shockwave, Flash, and Silverlight in Office 2016, 2013, and 2010. The block will take place mainly for organisations following the semi-annual channel update model, where new features are implemented every 6 months.
Microsoft will also begin to ask Yammer Enterprise users to log-into their account via Azure Active Directory, which may mean creating new passports. Other changes include:
