Software giant Microsoft silently rolls out a new version of its Microsoft Office for Windows that’s used to edit documents for free. This means users don’t need any Microsoft 365 Subscription or Office license key.
The free version has to do with full desktop apps but most offerings are locked behind its Microsoft 365 subscription.
This development was first seen by Beebom, that is the free variant of Office for Windows including ads that stay on screens when they’re inside a document in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Furthermore, the latest version only enables users to save documents on OneDrive so that means no support is provided for making changes to local files.
To attain the free-of-cost version, you can simply skip prompts for sign-ins when you run the Office platform. After that, you’re provided with choices to continue to use for free in return for ads and limited offerings.
Through such modes, you open, see, and make changes in the documents, similar to the web variant of Office. For now, the limited features don’t provide access to any add-ins, modern formatting, dictation, or SmartArt. Those that are free are created for simple writing and edits to user documents on Office. However, you still need to subscribe for this.
For now, it’s still limited in terms of testing as you cannot skip the sign-in options when running this program through test machines. The software may be only testing the version for this Office in certain machines. The program may be experimenting with a few regions at this moment in time or A/B testing with a small number of users at the start.
Microsoft is yet to share this particular version of Office with users at this moment in time. It’s neither acknowledged the existence of support documents through any official announcement. We might hear more on this front soon so stay tuned.
Image: Beebom
Read next: Apple Makes Major Splash With $500B Investment in US to Support American Innovation
The free version has to do with full desktop apps but most offerings are locked behind its Microsoft 365 subscription.
This development was first seen by Beebom, that is the free variant of Office for Windows including ads that stay on screens when they’re inside a document in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Furthermore, the latest version only enables users to save documents on OneDrive so that means no support is provided for making changes to local files.
To attain the free-of-cost version, you can simply skip prompts for sign-ins when you run the Office platform. After that, you’re provided with choices to continue to use for free in return for ads and limited offerings.
Through such modes, you open, see, and make changes in the documents, similar to the web variant of Office. For now, the limited features don’t provide access to any add-ins, modern formatting, dictation, or SmartArt. Those that are free are created for simple writing and edits to user documents on Office. However, you still need to subscribe for this.
For now, it’s still limited in terms of testing as you cannot skip the sign-in options when running this program through test machines. The software may be only testing the version for this Office in certain machines. The program may be experimenting with a few regions at this moment in time or A/B testing with a small number of users at the start.
Microsoft is yet to share this particular version of Office with users at this moment in time. It’s neither acknowledged the existence of support documents through any official announcement. We might hear more on this front soon so stay tuned.
Image: Beebom
Read next: Apple Makes Major Splash With $500B Investment in US to Support American Innovation
