Microsoft Office 16 release date revealed as H2 2015

Microsoft will launch its Office 16 client and server applications in the second half of 2015, according to the company's general manager of Office and Office 365 marketing, Julia White.

Speaking at Microsoft's Tech Ed conference in Barcelona earlier this week, White said both versions will be launched at the same time, although they will appear later in the year than already rumoured.

Office 2013, which is also referred to as Office 15, was launched in October 2012, meaning the next version of Office will sit tightly in Microsoft's two to three year time frame between suite launches.

The disappointing news is that Office 16 will be designed for traditional, non-touchscreen desktops and laptops. It would appear that the applications aren't even being tested for touchscreen laptops yet, so no doubt those releases won't be rolled out until 2016.

However, we won't have to wait until then to see another release from the tech giant. The company's Android tablet offering is expected to launch in the coming months, making touchscreen users a little happier.

Microsoft is also rumoured to be working on a Office for Mac update. Although the Outlook client leaked earlier this month, the full suite of applications is scheduled to hit in early 2015.

Before we welcome Office 2016, Microsoft has a number of updates to Office 365 to roll out. White also announced at the Tech Ed conference that the company would be adding MDM controls to its Office 365 platform early next year.

White said: "Users want access to all their important information, particularly email and office documents so they can be productivity everywhere

"Since we've shipped theOffice for iPadapps, we had a lot of feedback asking for people to be able to manage those apps and I'm thrilled that Intune will be uniquely able to manage [them].

"Using [Office 365] management you can set policies for how [iPad] apps can interact with corporate data."