Microsoft has opened a preview of its Office Store for downloading Office 2013 apps.
The software giant unveiled the next version of its Office suite last month and is now giving a look into what users can expect in the way of apps. Microsoft said it has built the Office Store for three reasons: integration, simplicity and developer opportunity.
Vivek Narasimhan, product marketing manager for Office said: “we are excited to take you behind the scenes to meet one of the best kept secrets in the next version of Office and SharePoint: the Office Store.
“We’ve built the store so you could integrate the very best of the web with the powerful features of Office and SharePoint.”
In a similar way to Apple’s strict screening process, Microsoft said: “All apps that are listed on the Store get extensively validated so users can trust them.” Users will be able to choose apps by selecting ‘Apps for Office’ from the Insert tab.
Many apps are already available via the Office Store for the Office 2013 preview. The apps are all based on web-standards so they load straight away with no complex installation processor, said Microsoft.
Users’ apps will follow them wherever they log in and if they send a document created with an app the recipient will be pointed towards the appropriate app so they can use it too.
Microsoft touts the Office Store as a massive opportunity for developers since billions of people use Office. When things are fully up and running Microsoft will keep 20 percent from net takings on all transactions. However, developers can list an app as free and link to their own site for purchases.
