Microsoft Office Launching Soon on Mac App Store [Update: Out Now]

[MacRumors]

Last June at WWDC, Apple revealed that Microsoft Office and its suite of apps would finally be launching on the Mac App Store, without giving a specific launch date. That launch now appears imminent as iOS App Stores in select countries have updated with a new feature referencing the availability of Microsoft Office on the Mac App Store.

Image via @agpiveteau​

Specifically, in Switzerland and France, the iOS App Store has a feature that states the following:

We are proud to announce that Microsoft Office 365 is now on the Mac App Store. Your subscription to Office 365 gives you access to all functions on all platforms. To subscribe, sign up for any Office Suite app and update your subscription. Discover all the apps in the suite, and start creating and collaborating!

Microsoft Office apps have been available on Mac for years, but users have had to download them from the web or in physical retail boxes since Apple has never offered them directly in its Mac App Store. This should make the process of getting programs like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel much easier for Mac owners.

Like other versions of Office, you'll need a subscription to Office 365 to gain access to the full features of each app.

Although the launch appears to be very soon, we're still unsure on when exactly Microsoft Office will be ready to download in the Mac App Store. When it is, we'll update this post accordingly.

Update: Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint are now live on the Mac App Store.

Update 2: Apple has published a press release about the launch of Microsoft Office on the Mac App Store. The company notes that Office 365 for Mac has been designed to support Mac-unique features, like Dark Mode, Continuity Camera, and Touch Bar on MacBook Pro.

"We are excited to welcome Microsoft Office 365 to the all new Mac App Store in macOS Mojave," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Apple and Microsoft have worked together to bring great Office productivity to Mac users from the very beginning. Now, with Office 365 on the Mac App Store, it's easier than ever to get the latest and best version of Office 365 for Mac, iPad and iPhone."

You can also download a bundle of all the new Office 365 apps on the Mac App Store, including OneDrive and OneNote.

Article Link: Microsoft Office Launching Soon on Mac App Store [Update: Out Now]

 

[Ploki]

Apple could learn from Microsoft

 

[Merackon]

Apple could learn from Microsoft

Curious what element of 365 you are referring to?

 

[omihek]

Finally we'll be able to use MS Office on the Mac... oh wait.

 

[owen.meredith]

Finally we'll be able to us MS Office on the Mac... oh wait.

Ah, yes... because putting the only good suite Microsoft has onto a Mac is heathenous behaviour, right? Get a grip.

 

[iop]

I’ve been buying 365 subs on ebay. It just doesn’t make sense to pay the full price. Unfortunately, the latest version of office apps has a very sluggish ribbon, so I doubt I’ll continue using 365 unless I find a way to roll back to an older version.

 

[martyjmclean]

I have little incentive to upgrade from Office 2016 and it certainly won’t be to a subscription. If it was offered outright on the App Store I’d do that when the time comes.

 

[e1me5]

iWork FTW

 

[valdikor]

I'm very excited. I prefer to have as many apps as possible from the Mac App Store, update them at the very same place and not worry about license terms, etc. So I'll be swapping my regular install of Office 365 for the App Store apps.

 

[Starship67]

Apple could learn from Microsoft

One of the funniest statements I’ve read in a bit.

 

[The Clark]

Apple could learn from Microsoft

What could they learn? How to fire everyone from Q/A and botch every update?

 

[awer25]

A lot of programs have to strip features to meet App Store requirements, and will therefore sell an App Store version and a more feature-full version on their website for the same price. Office 365 for Mac is already a dumbed down version of the Windows program, and the App Store better not become an even slimmer version.

 

[AndyMacAndMic]

What could they learn? How to fire everyone from Q/A and botch every update?

I thought Apple fired everyone from Q/A already?

 

[omihek]

Ah, yes... because putting the only good suite Microsoft has onto a Mac is heathenous behaviour, right? Get a grip.

Are we both joking or is it just me? I was hinting that MS Office is already available on the Mac, therefore I don't understand why they would put it on the App Store. Either way, I'll still use it on my Mac every day. Cheers!

 

[HacKage]

What could they learn? How to fire everyone from Q/A and botch every update?

Oh, you want to talk about Apple and QA..?

 

[Shawn Parr]

Are we both joking or is it just me? I was hinting that MS Office is already available on the Mac, therefore I don't understand why they would put it on the App Store. Either way, I'll still use it on my Mac every day. Cheers!

I manage Mac and iOS devices for a University, and having them in the App Store will make it way easier to deploy and keep them up to date. Right now whenever an update comes out we have to download them, add them to our MDM, then set policies to push out the updates. Then the Update process can cause issues for users.

With an App Store app, we just "purchase" $0 licenses, and apply them to a group of machines, then set a time for it to automatically check for updates.

This won't help most users, but for us it is a welcome change.

 

[H2SO4]

I have little incentive to upgrade from Office 2016 and it certainly won’t be to a subscription. If it was offered outright on the App Store I’d do that when the time comes.

Then upgrade to a perpetual license from M$ direct. Why does it need to be from the App Store?
I have both 2016 & 2019 for Mac. Plus the windows version. They all work fine and are all VERY fully featured.

 

[topgunn]

This is great news for those of us who manage large numbers of Macs with an MDM. Having Office in the App Store makes managing and updating Office much easier.

A couple of weeks ago, JAMF announced a webinar for this afternoon titled "How to Manage Microsoft Office 2019 for Mac". I don't think the timing is a coincidence.

 

[BaccaBossMC]

Great, some of the most annoying programs in existence are now easy to download. You've also gotta love the Software as a Service model where you pay every year what your used to pay one time to actually own the product instead of renting it with the SAS model.

 

[arefbe]

Ah, yes... because putting the only good suite Microsoft has onto a Mac is heathenous behaviour, right? Get a grip.

I think he means because the apps won't be stand alone, as they should be.

 

[martyjmclean]

Then upgrade to a perpetual license from M$ direct. Why does it need to be from the App Store?
I have both 2016 & 2019 for Mac. Plus the windows version. They all work fine and are all VERY fully featured.

Try reading what I wrote. I have a preputual license. I’d prefer to use Office from the App Store but it will be offered as a subscription only. I also never mentioned anything about Mac or Win versions having different features. (Which they do.)

 

[valdikor]

A lot of programs have to strip features to meet App Store requirements, and will therefore sell an App Store version and a more feature-full version on their website for the same price. Office 365 for Mac is already a dumbed down version of the Windows program, and the App Store better not become an even slimmer version.

Apps that have to strip features to be allowed in the Mac App Store are only those that modify the system or access system files, are not sandboxed, or use private APIs. The Office apps, at least since Office 2016, are not like that and technically they have been Mac App Store compliant all along (a Microsoft rep even confirmed this at one point). So no worries there.

Plus, OneNote has been in the Mac App Store for years for some reason, and it’s the exact same app you can install from Microsoft’s install package.

 

[CalvinBroadus]

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote all work amazingly well. And they’re free. So.

Edit: OH and they’re not made/“maintained” by MSFT. That’s the biggest plus. Less glitches.

 

[0958400]

Ah, yes... because putting the only good suite Microsoft has onto a Mac is heathenous behaviour, right? Get a grip.

Now now, be nice.

 

[omihek]

I manage Mac and iOS devices for a University, and having them in the App Store will make it way easier to deploy and keep them up to date. Right now whenever an update comes out we have to download them, add them to our MDM, then set policies to push out the updates. Then the Update process can cause issues for users.

With an App Store app, we just "purchase" $0 licenses, and apply them to a group of machines, then set a time for it to automatically check for updates.

This won't help most users, but for us it is a welcome change.

See now this makes sense. Here's a legit reason for having them available on the App Store. Thanks for sharing.