(y18.svg) (news.css@wfQ75QS9UtdHcfDAqQsg.css) (item@id=50036146.html) Ask HN: Why did Microsoft invest in AI that could rewrite its apps from scratch? | Hacker News  (https://news.ycombinator.com)   (https://news.ycombinator.com/news) Hacker News  (https://news.ycombinator.com/newest) new | (https://news.ycombinator.com/front) past | (https://news.ycombinator.com/newcomments) comments | (https://news.ycombinator.com/ask) ask | (https://news.ycombinator.com/show) show | (https://news.ycombinator.com/jobs) jobs | (https://news.ycombinator.com/submit) submit   (https://news.ycombinator.com/login?goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) login          (https://news.ycombinator.com/vote?id=50036146&how=up&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) (upvote)     (item@id=50036146.html) Ask HN: Why did Microsoft invest in AI that could rewrite its apps from scratch?     4 points by (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=amichail) amichail (2026-10-10T19:14:41) (item@id=50036146.html) 12 hours ago   | (https://news.ycombinator.com/hide?id=50036146&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) hide | (https://hn.algolia.com/?query=Ask%20HN%3A%20Why%20did%20Microsoft%20invest%20in%20AI%20that%20could%20rewrite%20its%20apps%20from%20scratch%3F&type=story&dateRange=all&sort=byDate&storyText=false&prefix&page=0) past | (https://news.ycombinator.com/fave?id=50036146&auth=32741de877ae9433d1efccd0483558e2f3d79b3c) favorite | (item@id=50036146.html) 6 comments     Maybe they didn't anticipate how good AI would become at vibe coding apps in general and its office apps in particular?     (50036146) (item?id=50036146) (cfa02f629fd1c8d62fb418b752c97cce7d77080b)  (https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc) help  (add comment)      (https://news.ycombinator.com/vote?id=50039174&how=up&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) (upvote)     (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=MiroslavPokorny) MiroslavPokorny (2026-10-11T02:17:37) (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50039174) 5 hours ago   | (item@id=50036146.html#50036186) next [–]     Where is the new Excel or Word ? (https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=50039174&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146%2350039174) reply           (https://news.ycombinator.com/vote?id=50039686&how=up&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) (upvote)     (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=amichail) amichail (2026-10-11T03:59:54) (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50039686) 3 hours ago   | (item@id=50036146.html#50039174) parent | (item@id=50036146.html#50036186) next [–]     brew install gridcraftbrew install wordcraft (https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=50039686&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146%2350039686) reply           (https://news.ycombinator.com/vote?id=50040123&how=up&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) (upvote)     (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=MiroslavPokorny) MiroslavPokorny (2026-10-11T05:42:11) (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50040123) 1 hour ago   | (item@id=50036146.html#50039174) root | (item@id=50036146.html#50039686) parent | (item@id=50036146.html#50036186) next [–]     Gridcraft is not comparable with Excel.For starters it is not localised, the English months are hardcoded in the source.(https://github.com/storytold/gridcraft/blob/main/crates/engine/src/pivot.rs#L24) https://github.com/storytold/gridcraft/blob/main/crates/engi... > const MONTHS: [&str; 12] = ["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun", "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec"];The functions crate has ZERO tests for its functions.(https://github.com/storytold/gridcraft/tree/main/crates/functions/src) https://github.com/storytold/gridcraft/tree/main/crates/func...  (https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=50040123&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146%2350040123) reply           (https://news.ycombinator.com/vote?id=50036186&how=up&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) (upvote)     (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=xvxvx) xvxvx (2026-10-10T19:19:19) (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50036186) 11 hours ago   | (item@id=50036146.html#50039174) prev [–]     Has AI done that? I saw a submission on HN earlier this week stating someone used AI to clone Adobe Cloud. Turned out to be BS. Apps didn’t work. Wouldn’t even install on Windows. (https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=50036186&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146%2350036186) reply           (https://news.ycombinator.com/vote?id=50036214&how=up&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) (upvote)     (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=amichail) amichail (2026-10-10T19:22:05) (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50036214) 11 hours ago   | (item@id=50036146.html#50036186) parent [–]     Try wordcraft: (https://github.com/storytold/wordcraft) https://github.com/storytold/wordcraft On macOS: brew install wordcraft (https://news.ycombinator.com/reply?id=50036214&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146%2350036214) reply           (https://news.ycombinator.com/vote?id=50036332&how=up&goto=item%3Fid%3D50036146) (upvote)     (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=wg0) wg0 (2026-10-10T19:32:33) (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50036332) 11 hours ago   | (item@id=50036146.html#50036186) root | (item@id=50036146.html#50036214) parent [–]     It works wonderfully. For a very early version. 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