Microsoft Office on iPad Spotted, Coming Soon to App Store

MS has ALWAYS been a software company first. Their best software in the industry is Microsoft Office. Not only is MS Office a standard, many in the business world believe its a must-have with no alternative (see this too). The last thing MS wants is for folks to think they can "get things done" without Microsoft Office. The absence of Microsoft Office on iPad and iPhone has started to make folks think they can do without Office. I believe that this is why we saw OneNote come to iOS last year Given Microsoft's support of the Mac with Office, I would not be surprised for iPad support as well (in fact I hope for it too).

I don't think you will see a version of Office for Android tablets anytime soon, if ever. But Office on the iPad can also be used as a way to get folks accustomed to the Metro interface to possibly influence the purchase of their next phone as well.

I would definitely buy this app if it opened MS Office without losing information. It still bugs me that I can create documents in Keynote and Pages for Mac and find the files cannot be opened as-is on the iPad.

Marx55 said:

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 (40o to 600 g and as small as possible). The Mac in your pocket. Always.

Click to expand...

MS Office is compatible between older and newer versions as well as between PC and Mac. I have Win 7 machines and OS X 10.7 machines with office on them all. The latest versions of Office product compatibility to a whole new level as well.

Sure there are minor issues with compatibility, but those are far and few between; it's no where near the dire conditions you made them out to be in your post.

shiseiryu1 said:

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.

Click to expand...

Gives respect? you mean trying to cash in. I am sure its easier to get money from those Rich Apple users as opposed to the poor Android users, logical move.

Given office if available on PC/Mac this move is kinda logical.

This will be really handy for me at work where I still have to use MS Office suite. Unfortunately, some of the corporate templates I use get messed up when editing the documents in iWork on the iPad.

Would be really handy to be able to view and edit them natively in an iOS version of Office. Would also be great to see iCloud integration, but I expect MS will push Skydrive, which I really don't want to do.... I just want one cloud service and I (perhaps unlike most) am liking the way iCloud is heading - nice and simple to manage - and I can actually access it from behind my work's firewall - yay!

The word on my mind was "Submission"

Nah, all joking aside, Microsoft has been and always will be a software company. Although they would love Win8 to take off and work as a tablet solution, they are cleverly hedging their bets.

MS know's Apple is likely to go on dominating the tablet space and with their invasion of the enterprise space too, MS know's there is a lot of money to be made providing Office to those users that might be using it on the desktop. They'd rather provide office tools than risk enterprise's looking for alternatives.

acidfast7 said:

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.

Click to expand...

agreed with the data entry. Much better to use a laptop.

However, for referencing said data, or docs, etc...

the iPad has its strengths. so many people criticize it for what it's not supposed to be.

my toaster is not good at broiling fish. so I own both a toaster and a toaster oven.

Excellent news, should help in the education world as well.

It would be nice if Apple could make a fully functional version of iWork that matches the abilities of the desktop apps. Example, no Page Layout support in Pages.

macrumors said:

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]image[/url]


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.

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/article-new/2012/02/022112-tech-apps-office-ss.jpg]image

[/url]
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

Click to expand...

ssshhhhhhh ;-)

I must say I really like the metro style stuff... Hope that Microsoft has 'finally cracked' the proper Office on iPad interface...

I never thought I would like another phone after the iPhone, but (apart from Nokia's ugly design) Windows phone software on the Lumia looks pretty good. To me, the metro style interface is truly something new whereas Android and iOS have a lot of similarity...

The big mistake on Microsoft's side is that they should have released Office for iOS in 2007 for the iPhone and 2010 for the iPad and make it the leading app. Now they have already lost it to so many people using iWork for iOS, Office2 HD, Docs ToGo, etc.

meh.... still not my cup of tea, if you want to be productive/efficient, you have to use a mouse/keyboard in a corporate environment.

Though creating documents would be a pain, using it on an ipad for presentations would be an evolution.

Lesser Evets said:

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.

Click to expand...

It actually has more to do with the costs- businesses generally are using computers for completing tasks, and once you have something functional there is little reason to change it. Many, and I mean MANY businesses are still running Windows xp as their basic OS- even my business where my computers are iMacs running Windows xp in BootCamp. As a result, software like Office takes hold and there is huge inertia keeping it there. I would love to bring everything over to OS X, Pages, iPads, etc., but it would involve a huge commitment, major investment, and still have compatibility issues with other entities I need to interact with.

How much do you think it's gonna cost? I hope not over $50.

This would for sure help us in companies to increase the acceptance and reduce the resistance to start work with iPad. My company actually want a "one device" policy which means no laptop when iPad. Technically not a problem but the change management is huge.
And an iPad office which really works with PPT and XLS files would be great. Still too many issues in the current versions of 3rd party tools.
Looking forward ....

JS77 said:

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.

Click to expand...

That has already started, they didn't need to wait for office to be native.

Drat.. was hoping for an iPhone version as well. Getting really tired with Documents to Go :\

Oh well.

CyberBob859 said:

huge

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

Click to expand...

I know there are people who disagree with me on this (they've already challenged my intellectual capabilities as a result of my prior comments on this matter) but that is the very reason I believe this is a tacit admission by MS that Windows tablets are DOA. Their history is to use one product (MS Office for Tablets, for example) to pull people to another one of their products instead of competing products. If Microsoft truly believed in Windows tablets, we would be seeing stories about MS Office for Windows Tablets being "leaked" and MS Office for iPad would just be a fantasy of the Apple "fan boys". MS would not be aiding a competing product -- especially as they are just beginning to introduce their product -- by providing their target market/(potential) customer any option for purchasing/using that competing product. And then, following the logic, if Windows for tablets is DOA, then if MS wants to ensure their lock on the tablet Office-app market, they need to get MS Office for iPad out ASAP.

MS would never do Office on iPad if they thought Windows tablets had a snowballs chance in hell of being a success and being any real challenge to the iPad.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

Marx55 said:

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.

Click to expand...

Ive never had any issues usings files createdcwith a pc on a mac or vice versa. What are u on about?

Dionte said:

How much do you think it's gonna cost? I hope not over $50.

Click to expand...

I bet around $9.99 for each app.

I'm genuinely surprised at this news. Microsoft can make a lot of money from this, but it also may be one less reason for someone to buy a windows tablet. I'm looking forward to seeing how full featured this is.

ipad 3 Launch app ?

acidfast7 said:

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.

Click to expand...

We are talking about the business world here; I already know of large companies giving people be the option of either an iPad or laptop...

Already have this on my Mac

I already purchased MS Office for my Macbook Pro. I wonder if this means I can use my key# for the iPad?

Or will I have to purchase Office again?

No Android because...

no one wants to pay for anything on Android. Rampant piracy is one of the reasons why "Angry Birds" is only offered in a free, ad based version. iOS users are more willing to pay for stuff. I guess MS figures that they may actually make some money (not much, because this is actually for product line support). Also, MS hates Google if you haven't already heard.

shiseiryu1 said:

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.

Click to expand...

M$, really, how old are you?

spazzcat said:

I bet around $9.99 for each app.

Click to expand...

It looks like one app for word, excel and powerpoint from the pic.