Microsoft has officially announced details about the newest upgrades to its office 365 suite moving forward along with its new OS release.
It seems that Microsoft has listened to its user base and feedback since Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are getting much-needed redesign taking into account many suggestions from the community.
The new office should feel more like an application suite guiding focus on the interconnection of applications themselves providing users with a much more natural experience of using them.
From Microsoft themselves:
“This Office visual refresh is based on feedback from customers who asked for a more natural and consistent experience within and between your applications, specifically on Windows. With this update, we deliver an intuitive, coherent, and familiar user interface, using the Fluent Design principles, across all your applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, and Visio. We aligned this visual refresh with the design of Windows 11 to provide seamless experiences on your PC.”
It is always refreshing to hear when a company listens to its user base and actually does what is needed instead of trying to invent the wheel.
How to switchSince beta is already rolling and if you have an active 365 subscription to office suite visual refresh will be automatically available to all Office insiders running beta channel builds. It can be turned on and off using the coming soon feature in the top right corner of the menu in any application.
Just click on the megaphone icon to open the coming soon pane and apply settings to all office apps.
Note that The Coming Soon feature is not available in Access, Project, Publisher, or Visio. If you turn on the visual refresh in any of the 4 apps mentioned above (Work Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote), it will also be available in these 4 apps.
The Home tab menu still has a familiar look with a few tweaks. For example, accessing frequently used Word commands will be a lot easier. By navigating to Designer > Show Quick Access Toolbar, users can add a customizable shortcut ribbon to Word that houses conveniently placed options.
Also, the office will not match your Windows operating system color theme so if you have a dark theme enabled, the office will also have a dark color theme.
Color palettes are more neutral, corners are a bit softer but customizable ribbons are a win here for me.
ConclusionThere was not much said other than visual upgrades and small tweaks that were supposed to make your life easier but then again Windows 11 itself is in the same boat.
I am not sure if this is a great update offering just some visual tweaks and focus on workflow mechanics or just being plain lazy and trying to cash in visuals as a completely new product.

“Error in loading dll” “Object library not registered”
Error CausesError code 0xd0000272 is an activation error code that occurs when Windows users are unable to activate their Windows operating system. This error code features common symptoms which include the following:
Error CausesWhen error code 0xd0000272 occurs in Windows 10, it is usually due to issues related to the Windows activation servers. In such a case where the error code occurs due to an activation server that is temporarily unavailable, users may need to wait for a few hours until the activation server is available. Their copy of Windows will then be automatically activated. Once the activation process is not done accordingly, you might encounter other Windows 10 errors such as error code 0xc004f034.
As is the case with many activation error codes, Windows 10 users can perform several manual repair methods to determine the cause as well as fix the error code affecting their device. Instead of passively waiting to see if your activation error code will be fixed on its own, resolve error code 0xd0000272 through the manual repair methods available. Below are simple instructions that when followed can lead to your success.
Check Settings to verify if your machine is connected to the Internet. This is one of the causes of various error codes which affect Windows 10. Also, this manual method is a simple process that can help Windows users recognize or eliminate factors that may or may not be affecting their system. To check your Internet connection, follow the simple instructions below.
Once you’ve been able to verify an Internet connection or troubleshoot any issues related to your network, go to Update & security. Make an attempt to activate your system. If you are successful, you will be able to access all the features and benefits offered via your copy of Windows. However, move to the next manual method below if error code 0xd0000272 reoccurs.
Your inability to activate Windows 10 may be related to an issue with Windows Update. To verify whether or not Windows Update is functioning properly, run Windows Update Troubleshooter.
You’ll need to visit the Microsoft website to access their Windows Update Troubleshoot tool. Once you’ve downloaded the troubleshooter, run the tool. After running the tool, check if you are able to access Windows Update services as well as activate Windows 10. If the problem with error code 0xd0000272 persists, however, follow the instructions provided for manual repair method three detailed below.
Another option available to individuals experiencing error code 0xd0000272 in Windows 10 is to manually disable their machine’s proxy settings. After disabling the proxy settings, remember to open the Windows Update tab to complete the activation process. See the instructions provided below to disable proxy settings.
Once you have successfully disabled your proxy settings, open Windows Update. Select the activation option to access your copy of Windows 10. If you are unable to complete the activation process, however, contact a Windows repair technician.
“Waol.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.’
Error CausesEasy Directions Finder is a browser extension developed by Mindspark Inc. for Google Chrome. This extension offers users quick access to popular websites for navigation and evens. While at first glance this might look useful, keep in mind that this extension has been marked as a Browser Hijacker by several anti-virus applications.
When installed EasyDirectionsFinder will record your browsing history, visited links, clicked URL-s, and viewed products. This data is later forwarded/sold to Mindspark's ad network and used to better target ads to users.
While browsing the internet with this extension installed (it does not have to be enabled) you will see additional injected ads, sponsored links, and pop-up ads throughout your browsing sessions. Due to its information mining behavior and aggressive ad injections, it is recommended to remove this extension from your computer.
Error CausesSet-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)AppXManifest.xml"}