With the 2016 version of Word for Mac, Microsoft offers a solid and long-awaited update to an essential OS X application. Pros Brawny word processor: With its solid collection of templates, useful formatting and design tools, and powerful collaboration capabilities, Microsoft Word is what every other word processor is measured against. Refreshed look: Microsoft's update brings the Mac version of Word a bit more in line with its Windows counterpart, adding the ribbon, for example.

Word 2016 for Mac is also optimized for Retina displays and can handle full-screen-mode Multi-Touch gestures. Living in the cloud: Microsoft Word -- and the rest of the Office for Mac suite -- has hooks into the cloud via Microsoft's OneDrive service. You can store, edit, and automatically update your Word documents from a Mac, a PC, or any mobile device that's part of your plan. Real-time collaboration: You can share a Word document either from your Mac or through Office Online, and then collaborate in real time with colleagues via OneDrive. Comments are now threaded, making it easier to carry on a conversation in a file. Fresh design: The ribbon's Design tab for Word offers tools for sprucing up your documents, giving you quick control over colors, fonts, borders, and more. Cons Lacking a few OS X features: While it is very much a Mac app, Word for Mac doesn't use OS X's Autosave or support the ability to rename, tag, and change the location of a document in a document's title bar.

Bottom Line Mac users waited five years between updates to the OS X version of Word, but Microsoft used the time to freshen its word processor's look and expand its collaborations tools, including real-time editing with colleagues. If you are using an earlier version of Word or work collaboratively, this is an essential revision.

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More Resources. Designed to give you the finest document-formatting tools, Word helps you organize and write your documents more efficiently. In addition, you can save documents online and access, edit, and share them from almost any Web browser. Your documents stay within reach so you can capture your best ideas whenever and wherever they occur.

In Read Mode, text reflows in columns automatically for easier on-screen reading. And fewer menus-only tools that add value to your reading-keep you focused on your content. The familiar Word program lets you create, edit, and share work quickly and easily. Most people can open and work with a document in Word. It's the most popular word processing program in the world. Sharing is simplified.