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Microsoft releases new Office Insider for Mac build - here's what's new

Microsoft today is releasing another Office Insider Preview build for Mac users in the Slow ring, bringing the version number to 15.27 (161003). The company hasn't really been announcing any Office builds from its brand-new Fast ring, other than the first one, which was released last month.

In fact, in many cases, the firm is still offering them to the Fast and Slow rings at the same time. These new builds tend to roll out monthly - the last one was on September 7 - and then to the Production channel (non-Insiders) a couple of weeks later, so if you're not an Insider, you'll see it soon enough.

Here's what's new in version 15.27:

  • More functions: In Excel, use CONCAT or TEXTJOIN to shorten your text formulas, or try the forecasting functions to help you see the future. (Feature requires an Office 365 subscription.)

  • Trim audio and video files: In PowerPoint, trim unwanted content from the beginning or the end of your audio or video files. You can also trigger an animation by using a bookmark in your media file. (Feature requires an Office 365 subscription.)

  • Make sure your notes are accessible: In OneNote, find and fix accessibility issues in your notes using the Accessibility Checker on the Tools menu.

  • Try our new designs: In OneNote, we've made some changes to help you get around your notes. Check them out by turning on Preferences > General > Enable experimental features, and let us know what you think!

Microsoft recently upgraded all Office for Mac users to 64-bit, which is one of the more significant updates for the product in recent history. The company was able to do that for Macs and not for Windows, since all Macs are now 64-bit, and macOS hasn't even supported 32-bit chips in years.

If you're not an Office Insider, you can enroll through AutoUpdate, which you can find by going to Help -> Check for Updates.

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