Microsoft has launched a new version of its Whiteboard app for Microsoft 365, with features designed to help people collaborate better whether they’re working from the office or home. It also updated its Teams, Fluid Components and Viva apps to make them work better both for hybrid remote and office-based workplaces.
As before, Whiteboard acts like a physical whiteboard, letting you draw, erase and attach sticky notes. You can also type, add and manipulate images to enhance a presentation. With the latest version, Microsoft is focusing on guided collaboration, as well as new content types, a new UI and expanded Microsoft 365 integration.
To that end, Microsoft introduced “collaboration cursors” that can help remote users see what others are doing on the whiteboard. And just like with a physical whiteboard, there’s a new laser pointer that helps you bring attention to key ideas. The latest version also introduces templates to help you get started on a presentation, along with a “follow along” feature to guide users through ideas.
Microsoft has also freshened up the UI with a new fluent toolbar, using its fluent design language introduced in 2017. That provides a single unified user experience across devices, operating systems and platforms. It also gives you pre-built elements from a creation gallery that works on devices as large as a Surface Hub and as small as a smartphone.
