Office 15 Will Be Included in Windows 8 on ARM

When made available for purchase, devices that pack ARM processors and run under Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system will have to offer features and capabilities similar to those available for x86/64 Windows 8.

Among these, we can count the inclusion of Office applications that have been designed specifically for the desktop. 

Microsoft has just confirmed that these office tools will be included in WOA (Windows for ARM), and that they will be part of the upcoming Office 15. 

Moreover, these applications will arrive with enhancements that make it fit both on touchscreen devices, as well as on those who make use of keyboard and mouse for navigation and input. 

“WOA includes desktop versions of the new Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote,” Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky notes in a post on the Building Windows 8 blog. 

“These new Office applications, codenamed “Office 15”, have been significantly architected for both touch and minimized power/resource consumption, while also being fully-featured for consumers and providing complete document compatibility.

“WOA supports the Windows desktop experience including File Explorer, Internet Explorer 10 for the desktop, and most other intrinsic Windows desktop features.” The main focus was on power efficiency, Sinofsky stresses out. 

Office 15 applications represent only some of the software that will be made available for Windows on ARM, Steven Sinofsky continues. 

Devices packing this platform flavor will also offer support for Metro-style applications that will be available for download via the Windows Store. Specific Microsoft applications will also be included into the mix. 

“WOA can support all new Metro style apps, including apps from Microsoft for mail, calendaring, contacts, photos, and storage. WOA also includes industry-leading support for hardware-accelerated HTML5 with Internet Explorer 10,” Steven Sinofsky notes.

“WOA will provide support for other industry-standard media formats, including those with hardware acceleration and offloading computation, and industry-standard document formats. In all cases, Microsoft seeks to lead in end-user choice and control of what apps to use and what formats to support.”

Overall, Microsoft aims at offering the same experience on Windows 8 running on both ARM-based and x86/64-powered devices. 

Some more info on what the final version of Windows 8 will look and feel like will emerge by the end of this month. The company plans on making the Windows 8 Consumer Preview available for the general public at that time.

Posted in: Preview, Software