[Feature Request] APPXBUNDLE Desktop Office

[moriel5]

Currently, the Microsoft App Store Desktop Office suite is recognized as the UWP Office suite... despite not really being UWP, just packaged as .appxbundles with the individual apps recognized by the OS as extensions of the base package (there 3 "UWP" suites, this one, which not UWP, the arm32 Office RT suite and the Office Hub).

Is there anything preventing supporting this Desktop Office suite? OfficeRTool supports it just fine on Windows 10 (unless something broke in the latest versions, since it does not recognize it on a brand new Windows 11 LTSC IoT install).

[WindowsAddict]

@moriel5 Support can be added but it would require many additional steps. Besides, Microsoft doesn't want people to use it, and its built-in Office updater will switch to the C2R version by removing the UWP version and installing C2R instead. That is why I didn't bother supporting it.

[moriel5]

Thanks for the quick answer. That is certainly surprising, since aside from a few (very few) hiccups, I have not seen any issues over the past 6+ years when activating via OfficeRTool (and I have installed and activated this specific Office suite many times over that timeperiod, for pretty much anyone who I set up a Windows PC (desktop, laptop, tablet) for, which is a few tens of people, at a ratio of around 2.5 devices per person (some more), including clean reinstallations with newer Windows 10 versions.

[WindowsAddict]

@moriel5 how are you installing UWP Office?

[moriel5]

Manually. I download the packages via the ADGuard website interface to the store (the CategoryID is required), and install them via the graphical Package Installer (I still need to find time to figure out how to conduct a system-wide installation), as the individual app packages have to be installed simultaneously, and right after the base package.

To activate them, I convert the license model from C2R to VL, and activate via KMS (as ohook wasn't present in the OfficeRTool version I was using last time I needed to do so, or I did not notice the addition).

And aside from extremely rare situations (perhaps 5 in total over the past 6+ years, on two occasions), updates have never broken the activation status.

[WindowsAddict]

About that auto-uninstall thing, that seems to be happening when C2R Office is installed side by side. Btw, any specific reason you use this over C2R Office? To me, it's just an inferior version of Office, and I don't see why anyone needs to use it.

[moriel5]

Again, I am surprised, as I see no difference between the two, except that this version is much more easier to manage, as a technician, and draws less system resources (marginally, there are less background services, as all updates are managed via the store, which do work automatically as expected), and leaves next to no residue, even without scrubbing (so I can easily uninstall and reinstall without any worries in regards to what was there first).

Also, whether activating unofficially or officially (whether by standard license or by account, either of which determines the version and edition), there is no functional difference that I have perceived (yes, I have done both, depending upon whether it was a customer or someone I personally knew who was alright with it).

[WindowsAddict]

@moriel5 I'll add support for it in the KMS script, but it's not possible in Ohook because Office updates are removing all files and creating a new folder.

[moriel5]

Thanks, that certainly makes sense.