Microsoft is working on a new feature for Word that should help users assemble documents faster and easier.
From an entrance In the company’s product roadmap, Word will soon receive a text prediction feature designed to anticipate what the user plans to write and save them the trouble of typing it out completely.
Once the update is implemented, Word will start generating text predictions in real time as the user types. These predictions are grayed out until they are retyped, approved with the TAB key, or rejected with ESC.
According to Microsoft, the service will improve over time as it picks up on each user’s writing style and language preferences, and should help minimize spelling and grammar errors.
The feature is currently under development, but is expected to be rolled out to users of the Windows application at the end of next month. It’s unclear when the upgrade will land for the web client or Word for macOS.
Microsoft Word update
The upcoming Word update will restore parity between Microsoft’s word processing software and the competing service Google documents, which has been offering nearly identical functionality for a while.
While Microsoft was previously the undisputed leader in the productivity software market, the transition to a subscription model and the emergence of Google Workspace has introduced a healthy degree of competition into space.
Information about the new Word feature also comes shortly after an announcement about the company’s next standalone Office suite, designed for customers who prefer to make a one-time purchase instead of using the Microsoft 365 subscription service.
Office 2021, due out later this year, is expected to deliver a series of upgrades over the previous 2019 edition, but Microsoft remains silent about the exact ways the two standalone packages will differ.
Microsoft has confirmed that Office 2021 will receive support for five years, and the company does not currently plan to change the package’s price.