Last week, Microsoft announced that they’re expanding the “preview” — formerly only available to a limited number of users — of their Office apps for Android tablets:

We want more feedback from more users to ensure that Office apps work well on a range of different Android tablets before launching the official apps. To participate in the preview, you can use an ARM-based Android tablet running KitKat or Lollipop, with a screen size between 7″ and 10.1″. Starting today, anyone can go to Google Play and download the Word, Excel and PowerPoint preview apps. No waitlist. No requesting access. Just go and download the apps!

It’s reasonable to conclude that Microsoft is at least somewhat concerned about the competition from the suite of free apps available from Google, the company behind the Android operating system. In other words, Microsoft have a vested interested in taking their apps currently in beta and making them polished enough to be attractive to those with Android tablets. (The iOS Office apps for iPhones and iPads are pretty slick.)

Have you tried out the Office apps for Android? If so, what do you think so far?

[CC-licensed Flickr photo by JD Hancock]