Store Desktop Office

FWIW, and this may be more appropriate on reddit than here, I’ve come across one deficiency of the Store version of desktop Office.

Using File Explorer, select a text file (.TXT extension). Usually it’s associated with Notepad. If you’ve installed a more powerful text editor, like Notepad++, .TXT files would be associated with that. However, if you wanted to open the .TXT file in Word, it’s not so easy.

Store desktop Word doesn’t appear in the default Open With submenu of the pop-up/right-click menu. Nor can a usable Word .EXE be found using Look for another app on this PC.

Conversation 19 comments

  • Paul Thurrott

    Premium Member
    09 February, 2018 - 6:11 pm

    <p>Yeah, this is an issue with a number of things. Add-ins, I think. It's amazing that something like this can be so half-assed.</p>

  • skane2600

    09 February, 2018 - 10:03 pm

    <p>Perhaps it would be better just to call it "The Store version of Office". Or is there another version of Office in the Store such that an additional qualifier is needed? </p>

    • hrlngrv

      Premium Member
      10 February, 2018 - 6:31 pm

      <p><a href="#244681"><em>In reply to skane2600:</em></a></p><p>Yup, there's Mobile/UWP Office also in the MSFT Store. Mobile Store Office and Immobile Store Office?</p><p>I suppose MSFT still bothers with Mobile Office for the legions of remaining Windows phone users running Windows 10 Mobile and the hordes of Xbox users wanting to run Office on game consoles. There are virtually no small tablets running Windows 10 Mobile, and all larger tablets + all PCs running full Windows 10 can run desktop Office and require Office 365 licenses to run Mobile Office.</p><p>tl;dr — there may be hundreds of people using Mobile/UWP Office from the MSFT Store.</p>

  • StudBen

    12 February, 2018 - 9:15 am

    <p>I didn't realize this was an issue, given I never use Windows Store apps, I figured their must be a way from the registry I found this from 2016 https://superuser.com/questions/1071323/cannot-set-a-windows-10-store-app-as-default-program-to-open-a-file assuming it should still work. Basically you have to find office in the RegisteredApplications to identify a few things then make the file association in the registry for the .txt file. Honestly though given the registry has a list of the RegisteredApplications you would think in selecting the default app Microsoft would put in a means to enumerate ALL registered Windows Store applications. I mean to me that sounds like a simple solution. </p>

    • hrlngrv

      Premium Member
      12 February, 2018 - 2:27 pm

      <p><a href="#245088"><em>In reply to StudBen:</em></a></p><p>This is not going to be simple for the home users many MSFT fans speculate would be well served by MSFT Store software. FWLIW, <strong>excel</strong> and <strong>winword</strong> on command lines still launch Excel and Word, so a 1-line batch file is all it takes. But if that's all it takes, even that shouldn't be necessary. Packaged desktop software through the Store ain't ready for prime time.</p>

  • gregsedwards

    Premium Member
    13 February, 2018 - 1:06 pm

    <p>I haven't played with the store versions of the Office apps yet, but my hunch would be that's because instead of being stored in the c:Program Files folder(s) like other Win32 apps, these apps are actually stored under the c:ProgramData folder. They're also probably not registered like their non-store counterparts. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent;">Remember that store apps are "containerized" to prevent their ability to interact with the system as a security measure. </span>It turns out there are a lot of challenges to changing paradigms. I'd imagine there's still a way to do this (after all, other store apps do show up in the Open With menu). Guessing it'll be fixed in a future release.</p>

    • hrlngrv

      Premium Member
      13 February, 2018 - 4:17 pm

      <p><a href="#245465"><em>In reply to gregsedwards:</em></a></p><p>All removable Store apps are stored under C:\Program Files\WindowsApps. Bundled UWP apps that can't be removed are stored under C:\Windows\SystemApps.</p><p>Whether they're registered or not I can't tell. I had had standard Office 365 installed before. I removed that in order to install the Store version. It's possible the removal didn't clear out registry keys. OTOH, typing <strong>winword</strong> or <strong>excel</strong> at a command prompt or in the Run dialog starts Word or Excel, respectively, so the new installed locations are in the registry.</p><p>As for containerized, VBA macros in Store Excel can automate the other Store Office apps, and outside scripting facilities like VBScript running through Windows Script Host can automate Store Office apps. Further, VBA in the Store Office apps can make Windows API calls (calls which require <strong>Declare</strong> statements and name the system DLL in which to find the given function). VBA macros can also modify and delete any files for which the user account has read-write permission. Not clear what the containers are doing. AFA I can tell, the only security provided by Store Office is that C:\Program Files\WindowsApps by default doesn't allow any user account or even Administrator accounts to browse inside it or modify any files inside it.</p><p>As for Store apps which show up in Open With menus, they're usually ones with file associations. Thus I have Code Writer which shows up in Open With for .TXT, .LOG, .INI files but not for Unicode text or exotica like _vimrc.</p>

  • Lauren Glenn

    14 February, 2018 - 7:26 am

    <p>I still can't get the store office to install without it going off to a website for the install. The same website where I do the desktop install….. makes no sense. Someone told me to uninstall the desktop one and then it gives you the store one. OK, but the store one is supposedly only 32bit? And it offers nothing new over the desktop one which is 64-bit……. why am I doing this?</p>

    • Paul Thurrott

      Premium Member
      14 February, 2018 - 8:43 am

      <blockquote><a href="#245607"><em>In reply to alissa914g:</em></a></blockquote><p>Every tech fan should ask themselves this question every time they do something like this :)</p>

      • bharris

        14 February, 2018 - 11:30 am

        <blockquote><a href="#245612"><em>In reply to paul-thurrott:</em></a><em> As enthusiasts, we think we need the latest version of everything. The older I get, the more I become a typical user. I am only using a small fraction of the features already there so why worry about adding even more that I'll never use. There is something to be said for if it's working, leave it be….</em></blockquote><p><br></p>

        • skane2600

          14 February, 2018 - 3:02 pm

          <blockquote><a href="#245669"><em>In reply to bharris:</em></a></blockquote><p>I agree. When you're young bragging points matter but as you get older your contemporaries don't really care about what you have. So you're no longer influenced by "coolness" and "newness".</p>

        • hrlngrv

          Premium Member
          14 February, 2018 - 3:17 pm

          <p><a href="#245669"><em>In reply to bharris:</em></a></p><blockquote>. . . <em>we think we need the latest version of everything . . .</em></blockquote><p>Not to worry. There's a <a href="https://www.thurrott.com/forums/microsoft/office/thread/windows-store-version-of-office-365-apps-not-updating-to-latest-version&quot; target="_blank">Forum article</a> about the Store version not updating to the latest version. Use the Store version, and it seems you won't be burdened with newest versions.</p>

    • wunderbar

      Premium Member
      14 February, 2018 - 12:06 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#245607"><em>In reply to alissa914g:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>I actually never recommend installing 64-bit office because there are a ton of addons that are not compatible with 64 bit office. The only reason to use 64 bit office is if you somehow need more than 65,000 rows in Excel.</p><p><br></p>

      • hrlngrv

        Premium Member
        14 February, 2018 - 2:00 pm

        <p><a href="#245690"><em>In reply to wunderbar:</em></a></p><p>Well, 32-bit Excel supports 1,048,576 rows in worksheets, and all those rows are usable as long as they don't span many columns.</p><p>Agreed, the only Office program which could really use 64 bits is Excel, but if one's trying to use 500MB or larger spreadsheet models, one is using the wrong tool. Screwdrivers make bad backhoes.</p>

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