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Microsoft Allegedly Ready to Launch Office UWP Apps, Possible Release on May 2

According to Aggiornamenti Lumia, the apps are reportedly ready and could be ported to the Windows Store, optimized for Windows 10, next month.

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Two years ago, at Build 2015, announced Project Centennial, a way for developers to bring their .NET and Win32 apps to the Universal Windows Platform.

Back in February, we reported that Microsoft would introduce the full Office suite for Windows Store, using the Desktop App Converter.

Now, according to a report by Aggiornamenti Lumia, the Redmond giant could be ready to launch the Office Centennial apps on May 2.

According to the report, Microsoft appears to have finished its internal testing phase and several Office apps have appeared in the under food-related codenames.

Here is the list:

  • Word: Sandwich
  • Excel: Soup
  • Outlook: Bibimbap
  • PowerPoint: Pasta
  • Skype for Business: Tapas
  • Visio: Salad
  • Access: Stirfry
  • OneNote: Quesadilla
  • Project: Pizza

Office 365 subs reportedly available for purchase

In addition, it appears that users can now also purchase subscriptions from the Windows Store. These subscription packages also appear with food codenames such as ‘Breakfast', ‘Lunch', and ‘Dinner'.

For example, the ‘Lunch' package includes Sandwich, Soup, Pasta, and Bibimbap, codenames for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook respectively.

The ‘Breakfast' package includes Biscuits, Croissant, and CupCake, three codenames that we don't know which apps they represent.

Concerning the minimum system requirements for these apps, it appears that users should run the version 14969.0 or later. This build was never released to the public, Insiders or otherwise, which means that users should be running the Windows 10 Creators Update.

Office 365 Subscriptions on the Windows Store
The ‘Lunch' package appears to be available for $9.99/ month, offering Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook – Image: Aggiornamenti Lumia

Office Mobile offering to end?

Strangely, Aggiornamenti Lumia has detected that under compatibility for the ‘Dinner' Office 365 package you will find listed “PC, Mac, iOS, and Android”. This could possibly mean that Microsoft might be looking to do away with its Office Mobile offering entirely.

In case you were eager to grab on of these apps for yourself, you might not be able anymore since Skype for Business shows the following message:

Good-bye World! The Centennial Office self-host program has ended. Please continue self-hosting with the Windows Store Office self-host program. Press any key to goto http://aka.ms/OfficeCentennial.

At this point, it could be possible that Microsoft will unveil these converted apps on May 2, when Microsoft will hold an event in New York City. The company announced the event on April 12, leading with “Learn what's next”.

Kostas Papanikolaou
Kostas Papanikolaou
Kostas is a former sports journalist and an amateur gamer. Combining his love for technology with his writing experience, he enjoys covering news about Microsoft. Being an artistic “soul”, he is also writing poems and short stories.

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