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Amplelink

macrumors 6502a
Oct 8, 2012
933
392
The online sync with OneDrive is a very clumsy implementation. I'm sure it's smoother on Windows devices. iCloud and iWork are much more seamless. Regardless, nice to have the "real" thing, even if it is subscription based. I think this only helps the iPad.
 

neilmcd

macrumors newbie
Jun 4, 2009
13
0
I'm using the apps with my business Office 365 account and they are really quite nice.

I can see why home users won't like the subscription fee, but when comparing it to the $99 I spent on a MobileMe subscription when it launched, Office 365 feels like a bargain :)
 

filmbuff

macrumors 6502a
Jan 5, 2011
967
364
If you use your ipad for work, subscription is a small cost for convenience.

What kind of work are we talking here? I use my iPad for work and hardly ever need office software. When I do iWork works great. I don't see why you would want an Office subscription when iWork can already import and export MS office files.
 

keysofanxiety

macrumors G3
Nov 23, 2011
9,539
25,302
Most downloaded≠most popular. I'd be willing to bet that most people weren't aware this was subscription based, or simply wanted to take a look at what features it has. The vast majority will probably uninstall it or never use it.

correlation.png
 

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
I won't try to justify the subscription model--it can be done fairly or not, and I generally dislike it. (Especially Adobe's model where you can't open your own creative work after lapsing! And where they do far too little to improve their buggy products, for far too high a monthly fee.)

But I will say this looks like good software, and if I need to view an Office attachment I get emailed, I now have an even better way to do so.

So far, when I need to edit an Office document on iPad or even iPhone, I use the app CloudOn. Which (with limits) is free, albeit a little awkward (looks like Windows, not like a modern touch UI)... but it works, and seems to offer ALL (not just most) of the desktop Excel/Word/PowerPoint features. It's pretty slick in its own way.
 

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
Most downloaded≠most popular. I'd be willing to bet that most people weren't aware this was subscription based, or simply wanted to take a look at what features it has. The vast majority will probably uninstall it or never use it.

Image

Please reread - it's also a top grossing app.
 

jrswizzle

macrumors 603
Aug 23, 2012
6,107
129
McKinney, TX
If the subscription pricing is $99/year or $9.99/month, how many subscriptions have to be bought for it to beat out $0.99 apps with a few dollars worth of IAPs?

A majority of people who will use these apps are stuck on Office for various reasons. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say most of us with a choice will choose the FREE iWork suite - which is already a good alternative when considered by its features and a GREAT alternative considering the value.

Microsoft is too late. It'll be nice when the corporate world doesn't revolve around a suite or programs that aren't even that good or intuitive....
 

garylapointe

macrumors 68000
Feb 19, 2006
1,883
1,244
Dearborn (Detroit), MI, USA
I also downloaded it to give it a try, just to see what they came up with. But actually, you can't do anything with it without paying. Officially you can 'read' documents, but only if you have the microsoft drive (or however they call it) - there are no other ways of getting documents in there. I know I can only read, but sort of was hoping to have some decent ways of getting documents in there to read.

You can open in DropBox and tell it to pass it over. (But if it looks find in DropBox why bother!). I assume you can use other apps like Box.net or possibly even open an email attachment to view it in the Microsoft Apps.

At 400MB+ for EACH of the apps that's a lot of space if you really don't need it. Most times I can view it fine in DropBox or the iWork apps.

Gary
 
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Robert.Walter

macrumors 68040
Jul 10, 2012
3,067
4,295
What can I do with the free ms apps that I can't already do with my similar iOS apps, PNK, from apple?

I think this is the key question as to the value proposition of 99$/yr.
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,805
Munich, Germany
downloading is not the same as paying for it ...

I also downloaded it to give it a try, just to see what they came up with. But actually, you can't do anything with it without paying. Officially you can 'read' documents, but only if you have the microsoft drive (or however they call it) - there are no other ways of getting documents in there. I know I can only read, but sort of was hoping to have some decent ways of getting documents in there to read.

So yes, I downloaded, found out that not usable (even for a quick try out) and deleted.

To bad they don't have a measure for the most deleted app .....

There are no other built in ways to bring documents to the app, but you can use any other app on your iPad and use the Open With feature to open the document with Microsoft Office.
You could use for example the Dropbox app and from there open your files with Office. Microsoft must not provide any other way and I find it ok.
 

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
If the subscription pricing is $99/year or $9.99/month, how many subscriptions have to be bought for it to beat out $0.99 apps with a few dollars worth of IAPs?

A majority of people who will use these apps are stuck on Office for various reasons. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say most of us with a choice will choose the FREE iWork suite - which is already a good alternative when considered by its features and a GREAT alternative considering the value.

Microsoft is too late. It'll be nice when the corporate world doesn't revolve around a suite or programs that aren't even that good or intuitive....

I know dozens of companies on the Forbes 500 list that are still using legacy apps/hand coded programs in their infrastructure to run their entire business. Some will never be able to update or would be unwilling. These are the same companies that are unlikely to care about switching off Office. And I don't say that as a slight to Office. I am just saying that the corporate world is likely to stay embedded with MS Office and Windows for a very very long time...
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,084
31,014
So basically just confirming that Surface is dead. Nadella's cloud strategy to me means bye bye devices. Wonder how long it will take MS to spin off Xbox, Surface and Nokia into a separate company.
 

driceman

macrumors 6502
Mar 13, 2012
313
185
It's just not worth the money... No matter what you think of iWork vs. Office, I'll take a free or cheap one-time purchase over $99 a year any day.
 

arcite

macrumors 6502a
What kind of work are we talking here? I use my iPad for work and hardly ever need office software. When I do iWork works great. I don't see why you would want an Office subscription when iWork can already import and export MS office files.

Well, if someone works in an environment where Office is the standard, then this is a big help. There was a time not so long ago that even having an apple product was complicated due to cross platform compatibility and domination by windows pc's.
 

samcraig

macrumors P6
Jun 22, 2009
16,779
41,982
USA
So basically just confirming that Surface is dead. Nadella's cloud strategy to me means bye bye devices. Wonder how long it will take MS to spin off Xbox, Surface and Nokia into a separate company.

Depends on which surface you mean, now doesn't it?
 

jrswizzle

macrumors 603
Aug 23, 2012
6,107
129
McKinney, TX
I know dozens of companies on the Forbes 500 list that are still using legacy apps/hand coded programs in their infrastructure to run their entire business. Some will never be able to update or would be unwilling. These are the same companies that are unlikely to care about switching off Office. And I don't say that as a slight to Office. I am just saying that the corporate world is likely to stay embedded with MS Office and Windows for a very very long time...

I know....but the corporate world is the same group that upgrades once every decade. Likely it'll be another couple of years before many (including mine) get past Office 2007.....

I think it's ridiculous.
 

satchmo

macrumors 601
Aug 6, 2008
4,930
5,549
Canada
The inclusion of Office for iPad is huge for those whose employers who use Office 365.

$99/yr is nothing for a company to expense...but for your casual user $99 is a lot more than free (iWork).
 

petvas

macrumors 603
Jul 20, 2006
5,479
1,805
Munich, Germany
What can I do with the free ms apps that I can't already do with my similar iOS apps, PNK, from apple?

I think this is the key question as to the value proposition of 99$/yr.

I am sure that document compatibility is near 100% when using the native apps. Everything renders as it should and that is very important for many people.

People also like to think that Office for iPad costs 99$/year. This is only true if you don't care about what this subscription really offers:
  • 5 licenses to install Office for Mac/PC
  • Access to the latest Office version for PC and Mac
  • 60 Sky minutes per month
  • 20GB additional space on OneDrive
  • Office for iPad in edit mode
When evaluating if this subscription is valuable for you, I think you should consider all of the above items. Of course, someone could just not be interested in this subscription, and then, in this case 99$/year are a lot of money just for Office editing on the iPad. Only if you value most of the items in the subscription, then it's worth it.
For me it was an easy choice. I cancelled Dropbox (which costed me 8$/year), and for that money I got an Office Home Premium subscription. It offers me so much more than Dropbox alone.
Of course I would prefer to use DropBox instead of OneDrive, but as long as it works ok, then I have no problem with it.
Additionally I use OneNote for my notes, I just love its user interface and the note layout options, even if it lacks in features compared to the Windows version..
All in all, I believe that the value proposition of Microsoft is a very good one. Just try to put things into perspective.
 

brianvictor7

macrumors 65816
Oct 24, 2013
1,054
429
United States
All I can say is good for them and don't come crying when people immediately delete it because it requires a subscription to actually do any work on the apps.
 

Solver

macrumors 65816
Jan 6, 2004
1,220
3,192
USA
Microsoft Word is the #4 top grossing iPad app on iTunes. Excel and Power Point are in the top 25.
 

AppleScruff1

macrumors G4
Feb 10, 2011
10,026
2,949
It's just not worth the money... No matter what you think of iWork vs. Office, I'll take a free or cheap one-time purchase over $99 a year any day.

It's well worth the money to businesses and families who need it on 5 devices. It probably isn't worth it for a single user on a single device.
 
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