Microsoft is making a new Office app available to Windows 10 users today. It’s replacing the “My Office” app that currently exists, and it’s designed to be a lot more useful to Office users. It’s essentially a hub for launching recent documents, accessing the Office desktop apps, or simply finding the free web versions of Office.
It’s a free app that will be preinstalled with Windows 10, and you don’t need an Office 365 subscription to use it.
The existing My Office app has many of these features, but the new Office app puts the focus on the free online versions of Office if you’re not an Office 365 subscriber. That’s something Microsoft has struggled to promote, and many consumers simply don’t know that office.com exists and Microsoft has free online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
A number of consumers also assume Office simply comes as part of Windows, so renaming this app to Office and surfacing online versions of Office apps will certainly help there, too.
This new Office app also includes tutorials, and tips and tricks for Microsoft’s various apps and services. Microsoft is also allowing IT admins to customize the Office app to allow businesses to brand it and provide access to third-party apps and Microsoft Search.
You can download the new Office app from the Microsoft Store, and it’s rolling out to existing Windows 10 users over the coming weeks.
