Microsoft is implementing a centralized notification feed for its Microsoft 365 suite of office software that it says will provide a “mix of relevant content” for the content users have access to, or that gets shared with them.
Quietly announced (opens in new tab) as part of the Microsoft 365 roadmap in December 2022 and slated for release in January 2023, the feature, dubbed Microsoft Feed, is no doubt part of an effort to make the collaboration software have a more, well, collaborative feel.
The news comes shortly after a separate announcement at the company's annual Ignite event in October 2022 (opens in new tab) that Microsoft 365 is being ported to a single desktop and mobile application, which will no doubt make the job of making the suite feel like an ecosystem much easier.
Collaboration features for businesses
Microsoft also used this year’s Ignite event to announce that its My Content hub, which collates all of a user’s documents under one tab regardless of which 365 application they were designed in, is now available to all of its users.
Despite the fact that both Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are the market leaders when it comes to workplace collaboration tools, an intuitive, centralised hub across the whole suite seems to be easier said than done for either company.
Even with the strides it is making, Microsoft, for its part, seems more committed to only offering true centralised tools and interfaces to company bosses and IT admins.
Google itself appears focused on cleaning up the user interface of experience within its individual Workspace apps than a centralised experience. An update for Google Drive in June 2022, for instance, made it easier to share files by bringing options under one centralised panel.
Microsoft may be looking to capitalise on Google’s inaction, and court users still on the fence about workplace collaboration software with an offering that is simply easier to use. Its latest raft of announcements might certainly put them in the lead.
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