To make things worse, in a way this is essentially Microsoft advertising on your computer without your permission. This is because the apps that Microsoft installed aren’t full versions of Office, nor are they free. If they were free, it might actually be somewhat welcome, but they are basically shortcuts to the web version of Office that users could have found on their own anyway, so like we said, it’s tantamount to Microsoft using your Start Menu as an advertising platform.
It also doesn’t seem to be a thing happening to users who signed up to be part of Microsoft’s Windows Insider program as it is happening to non-Insiders as well. Microsoft has yet to officially respond to the issue when asked by several media outlets as to why they are doing this, and if it might be a permanent practice moving forwards.