The announcement came in the form of a video on Microsoft's YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo4WIiAHlhw
The project began as a challenge: Microsoft asked its Vancouver interns to come up with a way to "add value to a person's day" by having them use the Office 365 suite. They began by asking Mac users what they needed to stay organized during a busy day working with Office 365. Then development began. Many responded that they'd like an at-a-glance view of their day as well as easy access to their shared files, so the team began developing My Workspace around those ideas. According to the company, during testing they continued to communicate constantly with their target demographic in order to optimize the quality of the My Workspace experience. Those who worked on this project assured consumers that there is no comparable interface on MacOS for Office 365 apps.
My Workspace is specifically designed to increase the user's day-to-day productivity, giving them easy access to all of their Office 365 apps as well as shared and recently-opened Office 365 files. In addition, users can also quickly launch OneDrive from the menu to see even more of their content, and share it fast for streamlined collaboration.
As for keeping track of a schedule, My Workspace works with iCloud Calendar to show users their upcoming appointments and events, and they can even join prescheduled Skype meetings with a single click. The app also allows for convenient and quick Office 365 account management, so users can make changes to their account if they so desire.
You can download My Workspace for Mac here:
My Workspace a Microsoft Garage project
Thoughts? Questions?
If you're a Mac user, do you think My Workspace will encourage you to be more productive? Let us know in the comments!
Tory Foulk is a writer at Mobile Nations. She lives at the intersection of technology and sorcery and enjoys radio, bees, and houses in small towns. When she isn't working on articles, you'll likely find her listening to her favorite podcasts in a carefully curated blanket nest. You can follow her on Twitter at @tsfoulk.
