We've already seen the new Outlook-branded mail and calendar apps for Windows 10 for phones, as they were included in the new preview build released last week. The rest of Office, however, wasn't included in that build. It will, Microsoft announced today, be available soon—the apps should become available by the end of the month.

The apps will be universal; the forthcoming phone apps will use essentially the same code as the tablet apps released in February. The universal apps won't support all the features of the traditional desktop app, with Microsoft still promoting those as the best option for mouse and keyboard heavy users and those looking to do complex data processing in Excel or complex layouts in Word or PowerPoint.

To ensure that the universal apps provide the best possible compatibility (and, critically, that they do not break any features that they do not directly support), they share the same core code with the desktop apps.

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft

The phone apps shake up the user interface somewhat. While the tablet apps have a simplified ribbon across the top of the screen, the phone apps will, we're pleased to see, put their main controls at the bottom of the screen. They're still organized in a similar way to the ribbon, but they have a kind of hybrid toolbar/menu structure. Outlook Mail and Calendar already use this approach for parts of their interfaces.

Microsoft isn't yet entirely sure when it will be releasing the phone versions of the apps. Unlike Office in Windows Phone 8, which is distributed as part of the operating system and hence can only be updated with operating system updates, the new Office apps will be regular apps, upgraded through the Store. Just as the tablet Office requires the Windows 10 Technical Preview, so will the phone Office.