Microsoft Releases Office for Mac Beta With Support for Apple Silicon

Following Apple's unveiling this week of M1-powered Macs, Microsoft has released a Universal build of its Mac Office 2019 beta for Mac that includes support for Apple Silicon.
That means the latest release of apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive can be installed on Apple's latest 13-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini.

Thanks to Apple's Rosetta 2 translation software, Apple's M1-powered Macs can run x86 code that's written for Intel Macs. In contrast to OG Rosetta – the version that allowed PowerPC apps to run on Intel-based Macs – code isn't interpreted in real-time. Instead, the Rosetta 2 translation process happens entirely on first launch, though there is a slight performance hit as the initial x86–64 translation of instructions takes place.

Microsoft's announcement sheds light on how the back-end work manifests to the user when its apps are initially launched:The first launch of each Office app will take longer as the operating system has to generate optimized code for the ‌Apple Silicon‌ processor. Users will notice that the apps 'bounce' in the dock for approximately 20 seconds while this process completes. Subsequent app launches will be fast.

Microsoft advises users enrolled in its "Insider Fast" Beta Channel to install the November 2020 release (build 16.43), or later, which includes the latest optimizations for macOS 11 Big Sur. Microsoft says it doesn't have a date or version for a public launch, but whenever the release arrives, it certainly won't be the last.

Apple says Rosetta 2 is a temporary solution for developers to make their existing Intel-based programs to run on Arm-based Macs, meaning they will eventually need to create native apps for ‌Apple Silicon‌ machines. Notably, Apple ended support for OG Rosetta three years after its release.
Tags: Microsoft Office, Office 365, Apple Silicon

This article, "Microsoft Releases Office for Mac Beta With Support for Apple Silicon" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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