Microsoft's Kirk Koenigsbauer, corporate vice president for the Office team, has just published a blog post discussing Office Mobile for Windows 10 phones and other platforms. After going through details of a range of improvements to the way you will work with apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote on your mobile device, Koenigsbauer goes on to say that editing such documents on a large screen via Continuum will require an Office 365 subscription.
The way that Continuum has been demonstrated to work on Windows 10 Mobile is certainly appealing but this latest news will come as a blow to some hoping for any kind of Windows Mobile platform 'bonus'. Users will find there will be no free editing facilities using big screens via Continuum on their travels starting from April next year.
Koenigsbauer highlighted the date from which a subscription will be required, "Editing in Word, Excel and PowerPoint with Continuum for phones will require an Office 365 subscription, but is available to try without Office 365 through March 31, 2016".
As WinBeta explains, the signalled change in policy by Microsoft isn't unexpected, as it has previously implemented a varying charging structure depending upon device screen size. On a device with a screen up to 7-inches in diagonal Office is seen as a mobile tool, enabling quick edits while keeping the file fully compatible with desktop versions of the suite. However, Office Mobile would seem a little underpowered for many professional users, so hopefully Microsoft will update it to offer a more substantial feature set to paying customers.
