Microsoft Teases “Project Centennial” as New Way to Fix Windows 10 Lack of Apps

Microsoft has started work on Project Centennial, another bridge that the company plans to use in order to tackle the lack of apps on modern Windows and make the store the one destination for everything on the new operating system.



And although Redmond hasn’t yet provided any status update on Project Centennial, it appears that work on it is going according to plan and is advancing very well, with the company now testing a desktop version of Office right in the store.
Basically, with Project Centennial Microsoft aims to help developers bring their .NET and every Win32 application in the store and implement the standard universal app platform services that allow for easy install and removal from a Windows 10 device.
Office Centennial test Twitter user @h0x0d has discovered that Microsoft has published in the store a new app dubbed Centennial Office Test1 developed by a team intuitively called Project Centennial, which allows users to download the standard Office applications. The app has 960 MB in size, which shows that it’s the real Office suite, and integrates the standard tools, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Once you hit the install button, it automatically downloads and deploys Office on the desktop, but for the moment, the built-in apps don’t seem to work, and all you get is a white screen.
Certainly, Microsoft is still testing Project Centennial, so expect more information to be provided at the BUILD developer conference, when the company is also supposed to provide new details on the status of Project Islandwood, the bridge that allows devs to port iOS apps to Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile.
Project Centennial, however, comes with a series of advantages for both devs and users, as it allows the easy install and removal of Win32 software. Furthermore, controlling all apps through the store creates a more secure environment, as it can also remove the typical junk that software leaves behind when removed, and can block malware and other types of threats from being bundled into installers.