Microsoft Office on iPad Spotted, Coming Soon to App Store

[MacRumors]

The Daily claims to have had hands-on time with a working prototype of a version of Microsoft Office for the iPad (via TheVerge). The Daily had previously reported that Microsoft was actively working on bringing Microsoft Office to the iPad.




The version (pictured above) is said to allow the creation and editing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files both locally and online.

A brief hands-on with a working prototype of the software revealed a number of new things. The app's user interface is similar to the current OneNote app, but it has hints of Metro, the new design language that can be seen in Windows Phone and in the as-yet-released Windows 8 desktop operating system.

They claim the app will soon be submitted to Apple for App Store approval. Notably, a version of Android is "not in the works" according to the same source.

Article Link: Microsoft Office on iPad Spotted, Coming Soon to App Store

[CyberBob859]

huge

This will accelerate adoption of the iPad in the corporate world.

[NeuralControl]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Wow this is tremendous for iPad. This really goes to show how serious even Microsoft is taking the iPad.

[Richdmoore]

Good for them, but I will stick with Pages and the rest of iWork for my personal needs.

Besides the corporate world, this will be good for those students who are required to submit their papers and other projects in microsoft format.

[Macman45]

It was, I suppose only a matter of time. It's to be hoped it works better than Office for mac 2011 does, particularly Outlook.

Would I install it? No, I have it polluting 2 MAcs as it is.

[shiseiryu1]

Haha, why would M$ waste it's time making an Android version? Microsoft gives respect where it's due by making Office for the iPad.

[JS77]

What's next? Windows 8 for iPad??

I kid, I kid... this is gonna be huge, expect massive corporate adoption when this lands on the App Store.

[jwm2]

Its nice to see ms making software for apple devices, however i'm not going to use them. But the more software the better imo.

[hitekalex]

Great news for any iPad user All of the current "Office" type offering (perhaps with the exception of Apple's iWork) are pretty bad.

I am hoping that Microsoft will get file compatibility right between desktop and iOS versions of Office. This will be big.

[Gasu E.]

Originally Posted by CyberBob859

huge

This will accelerate adoption of the iPad in the corporate world.

Which is already well underway. In my Fortune 100 company, traditionally a Windows-only shop, the iPad is now the standard among senior managers, with their laptops reserved for... Office.

[acidfast7]

lol

as a scientist, I really can't see much use for this.

the price point of an iPad is still too high (at 50% of a MBA).

data entry will still be a §!"#€% negating mainstream adoption.

[jtsnyc47]

Where are they going to put the 16 rows of toolbar buttons? This should be a portrait-only app!

[Lesser Evets]

I haven't used Office since iWork came out. Well, a few years later, actually. I am curious why anyone still uses Office. The only palpable reason I read from anyone recently was because of higher functions in Excel which lacks in Numbers. The Entourage program is also said to handle larger amounts of mail better. Since I do nothing more than basic spreadsheets, I would have no awareness of Excel, and I don't handle 10,000+ mails a year (not counting junk mail).

Office's Word seems so bloated and antiquated next to Pages, though.

If people want to pay a lot more for the MS version, good for them. It just strikes me odd that many people still cling to Word at this time.

Looking back, I am amazed how much emphasis was put on office people knowing/learning Word and Excel. You can learn the basic function in 30 minutes and most of the rest in another hour, then working and referencing will make you a pro in no time.

Originally Posted by Richdmoore

... this will be good for those students who are required to submit their papers and other projects in microsoft format.

Uh, yeah. You do know that PAGES and NUMBERS output to the MS file formats, right?

I went back to university 4 years ago and they wanted MS format. I just used Pages and put it out as a MS OFFICE file (.doc) and they never knew the diff. Most professors just want a format and a file type. You can do that with Pages. They don't need to know what program you used, unless you are in a class that is training you on the specific software, or the school is getting kickback from MS.

[mazz0]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Originally Posted by MacRumors

The Daily claims to have had hands-on time with a working prototype of a version of Microsoft Office for the iPad (via TheVerge). The Daily had previously reported that Microsoft was actively working on bringing Microsoft Office to the iPad.




The version (pictured above) is said to allow the creation and editing of Word, Excel and PowerPoint files both locally and online.

They claim the app will soon be submitted to Apple for App Store approval. Notably, a version of Android is "not in the works" according to the same source.

Article Link: Microsoft Office on iPad Spotted, Coming Soon to App Store

Shouldn't that be “as-yet-unreleased”?

[Sunsenista]

i was waiting for it to have a fully fonctionnal Ipad for my work.
Now it will be released and then my small HP laptop can go to the trash or give it back to my company
YAYAYA

[Mac21ND]

Weird to say I'm excited about this, but... yes, I'm excited about Microsoft Word.

(What has this world come to.)

[Chiefjop]

Originally Posted by acidfast7

lol

as a scientist, I really can't see much use for this.

the price point of an iPad is still too high (at 50% of a MBA).

data entry will still be a §!"#€% negating mainstream adoption.

They don't want you to buy the iPad instead of the MBA.. they want you to buy both!

This is gonna be huge.

[thelookingglass]

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

I haven't used Office since iWork came out. Well, a few years later, actually. I am curious why anyone still uses Office. The only palpable reason I read from anyone recently was because of higher functions in Excel which lacks in Numbers. The Entourage program is also said to handle larger amounts of mail better. Since I do nothing more than basic spreadsheets, I would have no awareness of Excel, and I don't handle 10,000+ mails a year (not counting junk mail).

Office's Word seems so bloated and antiquated next to Pages, though.

If people want to pay a lot more for the MS version, good for them. It just strikes me odd that many people still cling to Word at this time.

Looking back, I am amazed how much emphasis was put on office people knowing/learning Word and Excel. You can learn the basic function in 30 minutes and most of the rest in another hour, then working and referencing will make you a pro in no time.

People still use Office because frankly its the gold standard in the corporate works globally. I can't wait for this to be released for iPad as I (hopefully) will never need to worry about compatibility issues or not being able to see simple features like track changes. If this is the real deal and not "Office Lite", it'll be one of the killer apps for iPad and corporations will adopt the iPad even more so than they are now.

[jayducharme]

It's very interesting that MS supposedly won't make an Android version. Perhaps the iPad version is for MS to work out the kinks in mobile Office and prep it for their own Metro tablet and Windows phone. Why muddy up the waters by offering it for too many other platforms right away?

[B.A.T]

I sure hope they include drop down lists with Excel.

[Marx55]

Microsoft Office for iPad can be awesome if it is really compatible with Microsoft Office for Mac. But sadly it will not be. Because Microsoft Office is not compatible between Mac and Windows, and it is not even compatible between different Microsoft Office versions on Mac, and it is not even compatible between different Microsoft Office versions on Windows. The same (not compatibility between Mac and iPad) can be said for Apple iWork. And I mean for any document created on Mac; not just the plain simple ones. So, the conclusion is clear: a really mobile Mac is needed (400 to 600 g, and as small as possible). The Mac in your pocket. Always. It is not to work on it. It is mainly for mobility and Keynote and PowerPoint presentations.

[Spankey]

Pretty big and even bigger if this uses iCloud for storage. If the new version of Office for Mac can autosave to iCloud and offer seamless access to files I'll be upgrading shortly.

[Mac21ND]

Originally Posted by Spankey

Pretty big and even bigger if this uses iCloud for storage. If the new version of Office for Mac can autosave to iCloud and offer seamless access to files I'll be upgrading shortly.

I have this sneaky feeling about SkyDrive...

[Lesser Evets]

Originally Posted by thelookingglass

People still use Office because frankly its the gold standard in the corporate works globally. I can't wait for this to be released for iPad as I (hopefully) will never need to worry about compatibility issues or not being able to see simple features like track changes. If this is the real deal and not "Office Lite", it'll be one of the killer apps for iPad and corporations will adopt the iPad even more so than they are now.

Oh, I have no doubt that offices see OFFICE as the "gold standard", but the question is "why?" Price is huge (compared) and function is similar to iWork. The offices I have worked in could have easily used iWork, especially since many people used Macs, but they were using OFFICE instead... for Mac.

It just seems like most corporate people are locked into a perception or fear of prudent change because it could send them off the rails on a crazy train. Or something.

[acidfast7]

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

I haven't used Office since iWork came out. Well, a few years later, actually. I am curious why anyone still uses Office.

excel has visual basic, so one can code with it, which numbers doesn't have. no one uses excel for actual presentations or for calculations (that gets done in origin pro), only for easy programming from hardware that outputs data in .xls format.

most government documents are in .docx or .pdf format and the conversion from other office variant can create hassles that require extra time.

sure, if you want to submit your English 101 paper apple's stuff works, but not when you're submitting multimillion € grants.

lol