Microsoft Office 'universal' to be free on Windows 10 phones, small tablets

[RV_]

I already have free Office on my Venue 11 Pro tablet and was pleasantly surprised to find it on my new Windows 8, now 8.1 phone when I got it a few months ago. Looks like MS is taking that much further than an introductory offer.

 

Excerpt:

 

"Microsoft's touch-first Office suite, as well as its desktop Office 2016 suite, are inching closer to public preview.

 

As expected, Microsoft officials showed off the coming touch-first/Windows Store version of Office for Windows during the company's second Windows 10 reveal event on January 21.

 

On January 22, Microsoft posted a blog offering a closer look at the new touch-first Office apps -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and Calendar -- that are in the works. Microsoft is calling this touch-first suite "Office for Windows 10."

 

The apps in the Office for Windows 10 suite are "universal apps," meaning that most of their code is the same across Windows Phones and small tablets. These apps also share a lot of common code with Office for Android, Microsoft officials have said.

 

As of today, Microsoft also christened the desktop version of its Office suite as "Office 2016." (Until today, that suite was known only by its codename, "Office 16.")

 

The desktop version is going to be more fully featured, most likely include additional Office apps as part of that suite, and work on the desktop in Windows 10.

 

As Microsoft officials revealed yesterday, the Office for Windows 10 suite will be preinstalled for free on Windows Phones and small (under eight-inch) tablets running Windows 10. They will be available for download from the Windows Store for Windows devices with larger screen sizes."

 

Much more in the full article here: http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-office-universal-to-be-free-on-windows-10-phones-small-tablets/?tag=nl.e589&s_cid=e589&ttag=e589&ftag=TREc64629f