The relationship between Microsoft applications and services on macOS (formerly OS X) has been a shaky one. It has epitomized the up and down relationship between Microsoft and Apple, but this seems to be changing for the better. Satya Nadella has brought with him a renewed desire to see Microsoft thrive on all kinds of platforms and contexts, and it is during this time that Microsoft has renewed its emphasis to macOS.
In the following article, we will look at how Microsoft has evolved the usage of Office 365 on macOS. Office 365 is a big umbrella, but we will concentrate on the following pieces: desktop applications, e-mail, VOIP/IM, and web-based collaboration.
Desktop Applications
When we think of Microsoft, it is hard to not think immediately of Microsoft Office. Office has long been the standard bearer in productivity applications. Apple has tried to enter the space with their iLife suite, but it has never managed to displace Microsoft Office. Unfortunately, for a long time Office on the Mac was a very sad story.
Microsoft released Office 2010, 2013, and 2016 while releasing only one version of Office for Mac. Office 2011 was a poor attempt to bring the collaboration paradigms of Office, such as the Ribbon and SharePoint integration, to Mac users. It used old APIs and interaction models that left Mac users limping for a long time. Thankfully, Microsoft has changed all of this with the release of Office 2016 for Mac.
This version runs under the same banner of Office 365 with its constant stream of updates and innovation. The updated versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote have drastically improved upon its predecessor (Outlook will be discussed later), and the best part is that the Microsoft team made a set of applications that feel native to Office UI paradigms as well as a great Mac application. Despite some feature parity issues between Office on Windows and macOS, Office for Mac shines today on macOS.
As much as we may wish to move away from e-mail, it has been thoroughly entrenched in our workflows. Microsoft continues to shine with Microsoft Exchange and its implementation in the larger umbrella of Office 365. There was a day when Mac users were forced to use “light” version of Outlook for the Web, but those days are gone with a quick and modern e-mail interface. In addition to e-mail, Exchange continues to shine with calendar and contact management as well.
Exchange first came to the Mac through Microsoft Entourage, which was the early version of Outlook for the Mac. It was, well, a burning dumpster fire of an application. It has the dubious reputation of maybe the worst Mac e-mail client ever created. However, Outlook in Office 2016 has improved greatly. It feels much more stable than Entourage, but it suffers from greater feature mismatch between Windows and the Mac. While Outlook on Windows offers great functionality, it is much less so on the Mac. The Outlook for Mac user voice site notes many issues including not using native macOS notifications and support for other e-mail and calendaring services. Hopefully, in time, it will catch up to its Windows counterpart. Even if you do not want to use Outlook other options remain. macOS natively supports Exchange in their stock calendar, e-mail, contacts, and reminders applications, and there are many third-party options as well such as the one I use: Airmail.
VOIP/IM
The Microsoft VOIP and IM story was also not good for a very long time. Mac users were subjected to Lync for Mac 2011, which was also a very poor application. Thankfully, Microsoft has recently released the new Skype for Business Mac application, and it has received a dramatic rewrite and rethinking. Call quality is much more solid, and the IM experience has also improved greatly.
Like Outlook for Mac, Skype for Business on Mac still lags behind the Windows version. Many issues still remain, and I hope that development for this application goes as fast as it does for the rest of the Office line. Even basic things such as enabling “Do Not Disturb” on macOS when presenting, application screen sharing, and file sharing are not yet available. The Skype for Business User Voice will tell you what is being worked on for future development cycles.
Web-Based Collaboration
When I use the phrase “web-based collaboration” I am using it to largely refer to SharePoint and the other Office 365 portals such as Delve. SharePoint has also had a checkered past with supporting browsers other than Internet Explorer. However, each version since SharePoint 2010 has improved that story, and with the latest changes to the SharePoint list, library, and publishing experiences it has largely ceased to be an issue.
SharePoint in previous versions would limit functionality to Mac users with dependencies such as ActiveX for datasheet views among other features, but those dependencies have been removed over time. I no longer, as an implementer or user, have any hesitation about using any modern browser with SharePoint in Office 365.
The one area that has changed very recently was the OneDrive sync client. Just over a week ago, Microsoft released the new OneDrive sync client for macOS. This not only greatly improves the stock OneDrive sync experience, but it allows for syncing SharePoint content to the Mac. I have used the beta for a couple of months, and I never had any issues using it. The SharePoint integration is also much improved in the Office desktop applications over Office 2011. Overall, the OneDrive sync client is a great addition to macOS.
Residual Applications
There are still several applications for Office 365 that remain Windows-only. These apps include SharePoint Designer and the PowerBI desktop application. If you need to run these applications, there are options for you. macOS provides Boot Camp which provides native support to boot into Windows on your Mac, and great virtualization options such as Parallels and VMWare Fusion are available. I prefer the virtualization option, and it has provided me the opportunity to use those applications when I need them.
Conclusion
Microsoft should be applauded for their work to bring their great suite of applications to macOS and other platforms. The future is very bright when we look at allowing our people to use whatever device or operating system they choose to use Office 365 service. The macOS story has been one of drastic improvement, and all of us can work with that kind of progress.