Apple announced yesterday that Microsoft has agreed to offer Office 365 for download from the Mac App Store, which is being revamped for macOS Mojave.
“We’ve talked to some developers [about the new Mac App Store] already, and they’re really excited to,” Apple’s Ann Thai said during the WWDC keynote. “Microsoft will bring Office 365 to the Mac App Store later this year.”
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Office 365 isn’t the first Microsoft software to appear in the Mac App Store: OneNote, Remote Desktop, OneDrive, RMS Sharing, and (sorry) Microsoft Band Sync all appear there now. But this is still a major move for both companies.
For Apple, the arrival of Office 365 is helping to kick off a major revamp of the store, which has festered with little in the way of updates—or usage—since its launch in 2011. With macOS 10 Mojave, the Mac App Store is getting iOS-like user experience improvements. And it is getting some heavy-hitters, finally. Like Adobe Lightroom CC. Panic Transmit. And Bare Bones’ classic BBEdit.
For Microsoft, this release is the natural continuation of its work to bring Office 365 to app stores everywhere. This started with mobile platforms like iOS and Android, of course. But with Office 365 now available via Windows 10’s Microsoft Store it makes sense to bring it to the Mac too.
Office 365 will appear in the Mac App Store sometime this year. It’s not clear now if that release is timed to the release of macOS Mojave and the new Mac App Store, which is set for September.
RR
<p>But, but, productivity is a commodity …</p>