Microsoft Office to Get Visual Refresh, 64-Bit ARM Support for Windows 11

Microsoft has announced that the next version of Office has specifically been made for the newly announced Windows 11 platform and it is confirmed to have native 64-bit ARM support. The new version of Office is already in beta and is available for testing for Office Insiders. The new Office comes with a visual refresh that brings along a new Fluent Design across all apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, and Visio. The new Office will also match the theme on Windows 11, bringing a seamless experience for the user.

The new Office with the 64-bit add-in support and visual refresh is available to Beta Channel users running build Version 2107 Build 14228.20000 or later on Windows 11 or Windows 10. The beta version comes with a few known issues, including colour and style inconsistencies, bugs with animations, and a bug where the document title appears misaligned within the title bar. Microsoft Teams integration with Outlook is not yet complete, and some search features do not yet work properly in Outlook, OneNote, and Visio.

To install the 64-bit version of Office, users need to be using a Windows device running on an ARM processor, the laptop should be running a Windows 11 Insider Preview build, and any 32-bit versions of Office should be uninstalled before installing Office using a most recent copy of the installer from office.com.

Apart from running 64-bit add-ins, the new Office will allow users to run calculations in workbooks, present media-rich slideshows, and co-author large documents. The new Office, as mentioned, will adapt to your Windows light/ dark theme as well. The visual refresh on Windows 10 or 11 running Microsoft Office beta can be turned off using the Coming Soon feature located in the top right corner of the menu. Users can toggle between the new and current interface in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. The Coming Soon feature is not available in Access, Outlook, Project, Publisher, or Visio. If you turn on the visual refresh in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote, it will also become available in the other Office apps.