‘Touch-First’ Microsoft Office Apps Hit Windows 10 Tablets

Microsoft has released touch-first versions of Office applications for Windows 10 tablets and small screen devices.

The company says Word, Excel and PowerPoint have been built from the “ground up” for touch and can all be downloaded from the new-look Windows Store, joining Microsoft OneNote, which comes pre-installed on Windows 10 systems.

Office touch

All of the applications promise to offer the full functionality of their desktop equivalents but with precise touchscreen controls and mobile-specific features so users can work on the move. For example, a ‘read’ mode in Word adapts the document to the type of device it is being used on, while PowerPoint allows users to read notes from their tablet during presentations.

Desktop and smartphone versions of Office 2016 will be released later in the year to strengthen Microsoft’s vision of Windows 10 becoming a unified platform across multiple device types so it can get its cloud services on as many systems as possible.

Windows 10 was released as a free update to Windows 7 and 8 users earlier this week and is targeting one billion PCs, tablets, smartphones and connected devices.

However Microsoft Is also eyeing up users of other platforms too. Office had originally been touted as one of the main advantages of the Windows Phone platform, but Microsoft has altered its strategy in recent times in order to expand reach and increase the volume of Office 365 subscriptions. Applications for Android, iPhone and iPad are now available, with many features free of charge.

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