Microsoft Brings Ink Support to Apple’s Macs Even Without a Touchscreen

[The AchieVer]

Microsoft Brings Ink Support to Apple’s Macs Even Without a Touchscreen

Microsoft has made inking a key part of its feature arsenal, and at least on Windows 10, such capabilities have been pushed rather aggressively by the company in the latest feature updates.

But while on its very own platform offering ink support makes sense because Windows 10 devices come with touchscreens and pen compatibility, Microsoft has hit a roadblock on Apple’s macOS.

The Cupertino-based rival has no intention to release a MacBook with touch support, as the company believes that traditional laptops are the right way to go. Instead, Apple points users looking for touchscreens to the iPad Pro, which although runs iOS, is supposed to provide the same productivity as a fully-featured laptop.

As part of its struggle to bring ink to all of its products, Microsoft also introduced such capabilities in the Office productivity suite. And obviously, things were pretty simple on Windows, but when it comes to macOS, the software giant encountered the same problem as described above.Enter MicrosoftAnd yet, the latest Office for Mac insider build, which updates the productivity suite to 16.22.19020302, introduces a different kind of ink. Apple users can draw right on the trackpad, with the input then reproduced on the screen in Office apps.

This is pretty much the best you can get right now on a Mac in terms of ink support, and Microsoft is making it available in Excel, PowerPoint, and Word. The feature is currently offered to insiders only, but it should be part of the next Office 365 update launching this month.

This is the only improvement in the February 2019 feature update for Office 365 subscribers on Mac, though Microsoft has most likely included other smaller fixes too. However, once this update becomes available, you should try out the new improvements and see how inking works on your Mac.

 

 

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