20 Oct 2022

The Document Foundation provides LibreOffice on the Microsoft Store

Posted in Announcements, LibreOffice, Press Releases By Italo Vignoli On October 20, 2022

Berlin, October 20, 2022 – The Document Foundation (TDF) announces the availability of LibreOffice for Windows on the Microsoft Store, to support end users who want to get their desktop software from Microsoft’s own sales channel, from this link: https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/libreoffice/9PB80DCFP83W

TDF will charge a convenience fee of €4.59, which will be invested to further support development of the LibreOffice project.

The announcement reflects the project’s new marketing strategy: The Document Foundation is focused on the release of the Community version, while ecosystem companies are focused on value-added long-term supported versions targeted at enterprises. The distinction has the objective of educating organizations to support the FOSS project by choosing the LibreOffice version best suited for their needs instead of the Community version generously supported by volunteers.

“We are grateful to allotropia for having supported LibreOffice on the Microsoft Store so far”, said Mike Saunders, LibreOffice Marketing at The Document Foundation. “Our objective is to fulfill the needs of individuals and enterprises in a better way, although we know that the positive effects of the new strategy will be visible only in the long term. Educating enterprises about FOSS is not a trivial task, especially when you want to remain loyal to free software principles”.

The Document Foundation will continue to provide LibreOffice for Windows free of charge from the LibreOffice website (https://www.libreoffice.org/download), which is the recommended source for all individual users, while enterprises should look at the following web page: https://www.libreoffice.org/download/libreoffice-in-business/ for the versions best suited to their deployment needs.

Comments

  1. By James Harking

    It’s interesting that the single screenshot on the store is for the Tabbed UI variant? Is that the default UI on the Windows store version? If it isn’t that’s not really representative of the software, certainly not ‘out of the box.’

    I think this infers that Windows users of LibreOffice will be more comfortable with a UI similar to MSO.

  2. By George Crawford

    Kind of on of those days where the world turns upside down. LibreOffice being offered on the Microsoft Store! :)! It was the Apple Store a few weeks ago. Glad it is being offered in both places and I hope it gets LibreOffice some money to help further development. Reminds me of something Steve Jobs said when Apple was getting an investment from Microsoft in 1997 to keep Apple afloat as a company.
    This is from the Mental Floss Website:
    When Jobs announced the Microsoft deal, the crowd at Macworld Expo freaked out. Jobs now-famously said, “We have to let go of a few notions here. We have to let go of the notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft needs to lose.” What is less often quoted is the next thing Jobs said: “We have to embrace a notion that for Apple to win, Apple has to do a really good job. And if others are gonna help us, that’s great, because we need all the help we can get. And if we screw up and we don’t do a good job…it’s our fault. … If we want Microsoft Office on the Mac, we’d better treat the company that puts it out with a little bit of gratitude. We’d like their software.”
    Glad LibreOffice is trying this new marketing approach and is trying something different. Keep improving the product! :)!

  3. By Joshua Stein

    Will the Microsoft version receive the monthly point releases through the Microsoft store? Or will it just be a major releases once a previous version is no longer supported?

    • By Mike Saunders

      Yes, it will receive updates! It’s currently LibreOffice 7.3.6, and will update to 7.3.7 (the last release in that branch) before moving to the 7.4.x series.

  4. By Alfred Jodocus Kwak

    I’d love to pay for Libreoffice and a lot more than €4.59 if this gets me automatic/incremental updates. But the MS Store requires a Microsoft account and I don’t want to feed MS with more data.

    • By Sebastiaan Veld

      Then better not use Windows at all.

  5. By Sebastiaan Veld

    I still can’t find LO in the MS Store when searching for “libreoffice”. Could thi shave to do with regions or language settings (devices here in Dutch language)?