Got Microsoft Office? Get this new Windows 10 app for free

December 22, 2018

By

Love it or hate it, Microsoft Office is still a huge part of business productivity. Microsoft even estimates that 1.2 billion people use Office on a regular basis.Microsoft Office has come a long way since 1982, beginning as a spreadsheet application called Microsoft Multiplan. The rest is history. You can still get Office as a traditional one-time purchase,  a cloud-based subscription service and a free (but limited) web-based version.And Microsoft is constantly looking for ways to streamline productivity, no matter which version you have. To that end, there’s now a handy Windows 10 app to make the suite even more user-friendly.

Simplifying the process

Last year, Microsoft updated Office.com to streamline user experience. It was apparently so successful, Microsoft says more than 40% of Office 365 web users start work by visiting the site.So now it’s created a free app for Windows 10 to replace the existing “My Office” app. The new app is simply called “Office.” What’s different is that while “My Office” helped users manage their Office 365 subscriptions, the new app can be used with any variant including Office 365, Office 19 or 16 and Office Online.Bonus: How you can get Microsoft Office for freeMicrosoft says it will allow you to see all your Office apps in one place and quickly switch between them. You’ll also be able to find your most recently used documents, whether they’re on your machine or in the cloud, and Microsoft Search will be integrated.

Get the new app soon

Right now, the new Office app is only available to Windows Insiders (Fast) and will roll out to other Windows 10 users “soon.” If you already have the “My Office” app, the new app will install via automatic update. Otherwise, you’ll be able to download it from the Microsoft Store once it becomes available.It will also come pre-installed on new Windows 10 devices beginning next summer. Let’s just hope Microsoft can move past all the issues of 2018 in the new year.