In a strategic move just before the launch of Apple Vision Pro, Microsoft has officially unveiled its office suite adapted for visionOS. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams, among others, will be available from day one on the company’s new space computer, and will feature a design adapted for working in a virtual environment.
A complete redesign for a more versatile and powerful environment
The highlight of this announcement is the inclusion of Copilot’s AI-driven features in visionOS applications. Microsoft promises to radically transform how we interact with productivity tools, from enhancing our engagement in meetings to creating presentations and analyzing data with natural language commands.
Microsoft Teams, for example, will take advantage of the Persona feature of Apple Vision Pro, allowing us to use an authentic representation of our faces during video calls, something that redefines spatial communication. On the other hand, PowerPoint on Vision Pro will include a customized immersive environment that will allow us to practice presentations as if we were in front of a real audience.
Regarding Excel, Microsoft promises to revolutionize how we interact with data, allowing us to manipulate and visualize information on the “infinite canvas” provided by Apple Vision Pro. Microsoft Word is not far behind, with immersive environments to fully focus on our documents and a simplified interface following Apple’s design guidelines.
In fact, what stands out the most about the snapshots that Microsoft has presented is the extreme cleanliness of its interfaces. Unlike the versions of Office for Meta Quest (below these lines), where we practically see the same interface as on a PC, here the Redmond company has opted for transparency, sidebars, and a nesting and hierarchy of options.
Partly thanks to Copilot supporting many of our actions in the Microsoft suite and partly because a clean interface is more advisable for a virtual environment, Office has undergone a more than considerable transformation. Menus, submenus, and controls now resemble the interfaces of the latest macOS versions, flat with shadows and gradients to highlight planes, options, and buttons.
Apple’s iWork suite, with the exception of the Keynote app, will not be available natively on the Vision Pro on launch day. It is expected to arrive later, but in the meantime, Microsoft’s offering promises to fill that void, providing us with a complete and truly advanced set of productivity tools from day one.
An announcement that undoubtedly highlights Microsoft’s commitment to innovation and also its adaptability, while setting a design standard for the most professional apps in virtual environments. Apps that, eagerly awaiting official release tomorrow, February 2nd, already convey the power and simplicity of one of the most widely used office suites in the world.
