News

Whiteboard App Preview for Team Collaborations Released

• By Kurt Mackie
• 12/07/2017

A new tool that allows teams collaborate using "digital canvas" that can hold drawings, images and notes has been released in preview this week by Microsoft.

Microsoft already has a whiteboard application included in its Surface Hub large-screen videoconferencing devices. However, the new Whiteboard preview app, downloadable from the Microsoft Store here, is a new application for PC devices and Microsoft is grooming it to be the eventual successor to the Surface Hub application. It's possible to run both the Microsoft Whiteboard app preview and the Surface Hub whiteboard application concurrently without conflict, according to Microsoft's FAQ page.

The Whiteboard app preview can be used for collaboration on projects with spread-out teams, such sharing product designs and mockups. Microsoft uses it for diagramming its engineering plans. The app is described as offering "real-time collaboration" so that everyone can see the changes being made.

The app comes with pen and ruler tools, sticky notes and the ability to drag-and-drop images on the screen. The images can even be stacked. The "intelligent ink" capability of Windows 10 will clean up hand-drawn images into standard shapes. The Whiteboard app preview automatically saves the whiteboards that get created, so they can be reviewed.

It's free to use the Whiteboard app preview. However, to save the whiteboards that get created, users have to be logged in with a Microsoft account or an Office 365 account (which can be a personal, work or school account). In addition, to collaborate with others, at least one Whiteboard app user needs to have an Office 365 account.

The Microsoft Whiteboard app preview, currently available only in English, requires Windows 10 or Windows 10 S and having integrated touch capabilities on the device. A pen device is recommended. The app will be available in other languages in "a few months," according to the FAQ. Microsoft expects it reach "general availability," or commercial release status, "in a few months."

At the preview stage, the Microsoft Whiteboard app isn't being pushed down to Office 365 subscribers. IT pros would have to enable the preview for their organization if they want it, as described in this support article. However, like a lot of Office 365 features, it'll eventually get pushed down to subscribers. Microsoft is promising to give a 30-day advance notice, though.

"We plan to take the app out of Preview and into General Availability in a few months, at which time it will be turned on by default for organizations," the FAQ explained. "We will give IT tenant admins 30 days' notice before this change."

Microsoft currently stores the data used by the Whiteboard app preview in the United States. It plans to expand storage later to other geographical regions.