Microsoft Office Apps Are Now Available via the Windows Store

Microsoft announced last month that Office 365 was coming to Windows Store and in line with the earlier announcement, the Office applications have now shown up on the store for Windows 10 S devices. This is important as the devices running Windows 10 S are restricted to using apps from Windows Store. Notably, the Office apps have made their way to Windows Store just in time for the company's new Surface laptops, which start shipping from Thursday and also run Windows 10 S.

Currently, Office 365 applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and Publisher are available on Windows Store for devices running Windows 10 S. Notably, while the Office itself is currently not in a preview, its new install and update processes are in a preview period. After the preview period is over, users on other Windows 10 devices will also be able to buy and install Office using the Windows Store.

If you are on Office 365 Personal, Office 365 Home, Office 365 for Education Plus, or Office 365 Education E5 plans, you will be able to use Office in the Windows Store during the preview period on Windows 10 S. After the preview period gets over, other editions including 'Home & Student 2016' and 'Office Home & Business 2016' will be supported, as per an Office FAQ page for Windows 10 S. The company further says that in 2018, Office 365 plans for business customers will also be supported.

When the preview period will be over, Office will be updated to the release build automatically by the Windows Store.

There are some key differences on Office available from Windows Store in comparison to the desktop suite. For example, users will only be able to install 32-bit version of the Office apps from Windows Store. Users will not be able to add COM add-ins, and OneNote app will be installed instead of the OneNote 2016 desktop version from the Windows Store, as per the company.