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dolph0291

macrumors member
Feb 16, 2011
92
2
I've been quite happy with Google Docs backed up by Numbers and Pages for quite some time now, on all my computers and devices. I have Office on the Mac but never use it. (I have a Windows VM on the Mac and never use that either.) Outdated and irrelevant dinosaur. I'll snooze through this release, thank you.
 

4mat

macrumors member
Jun 23, 2008
91
11
With Microsoft's move from Office as a one-off purchase to an annual subscription model, it makes perfect sence that Office will be making its way to as many platforms as possible. Microsoft don't care what device you run their software on, just as long as they get people to pay every year. Apple make money from hardware sales, Microsoft from software.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
Have we not had this rumour since iPad 1 ? I guess they pin their hopes that eventually after repeating the same rumour over and over, they'll eventually get it right....
 

iLunar

macrumors 6502
Jul 23, 2006
350
2,079
Have we not had this rumour since iPad 1 ? I guess they pin their hopes that eventually after repeating the same rumour over and over, they'll eventually get it right....

It's been in development since iPad 1. It's been held back until Microsoft could get their tablet strategy together. Now that Surface has an imminent release and will launch with Office, other systems will get it.

Office is Mircosoft's cash cow and way to get traction with Surface. No way they were going to release it for any other platform before their own.
 

BowTheMan89

macrumors regular
Aug 18, 2011
160
0
Colorado
Users don't want Microsoft apps on their Apple devices. They want the total integrated solutions such as Pages, Numbers and Keynote.

Uhhh... I'm going to disagree. In the worlds of business, and education, those programs constantly bring compatibility issues. Office still runs the world. Even if apple says they work, there's always a graph or image that doesn't make the jump.
 

dolph0291

macrumors member
Feb 16, 2011
92
2
There is so much potential for it though... In terms of profit, especially from iPad users. I would love to be able to type papers and manipulate excel documents from my iPad.

You can do that now. Quickoffice Pro is a sweet app that I use on the iPad. It does the major three - Word, Excel, Powerpoint - and hooks into and works on all the Google Docs on a Google Drive, along with the major cloud storage servers (Dropbox, Box, etc.). I can't imagine MS making anything better than this app. And it was not expensive, $20 bucks.

But seriously, I don't know why people use Word. Unless you're creating documents with complicated versioning, tables of contents, mail merges, etc., then any text editor would do. iA Writer on the iPad is excellent (among many text editors for the iPad). I see people all the time open Word to create these really simple documents. Even on a computer there are better options that are free and pre-installed. I don't understand this addiction to Word.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
10,790
5,244
192.168.1.1
While I used to be all for this, MS Office - at least I feel - is fading into irrelevance.

Currently, I couldn't care less if it comes to the iPad or not. I've spent enough time without it on the iPad that I'm satisfied with the other solutions I have.

Sorry Microsoft. You took too long on this one.
 

peterdevries

macrumors 68040
Feb 22, 2008
3,146
1,135
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Just in time for the FOURTH iPad. What is going on with MS? If this is how they are going to operate, they aren't worth considering anymore.

Look at it this way. Would you introduce office on a device from a competitor (Apple) before you introduce it on your own solution (Surface)?

Didn't think so. This is business and we might not like it from our iOS point of view, but it is what is happening.
 

FieldingMellish

Suspended
Jun 20, 2010
2,440
3,108
Microsoft will make a killing if even a small portion of the base bites.

I personally found these kinds of apps to blow on IOS. I delved into Apple's suite and learned it, putting features to work for stylized, clear documents, only to find that it looked like crap on the iOS device.

This was because the IOS version lacked so many features of the laptop/desktop version. The workaround in order to get equally nice appearing documents is to accept the iOS version's limitations and commence your document design there.
 

MRU

macrumors Penryn
Aug 23, 2005
25,368
8,948
a better place
It's been in development since iPad 1. It's been held back until Microsoft could get their tablet strategy together. Now that Surface has an imminent release and will launch with Office, other systems will get it.


Where is your evidence of this.... ? (look at my sig, we have heard nothing from source or MacBU)



Re: Surface RT & Office

Also what makes you think Microsoft would make the one piece of software that could dramatically persuade / tip the balance in their favour for consumers to move or choose a windows RT device over iOS or Android, available on those competing hardware platforms.
 

WilliamLondon

macrumors 68000
Dec 8, 2006
1,699
13
Idk about you or your company, but I can't do half the things with pages that I can with word, ect.

Office isn't amazing, but it's best

You're misunderstanding; what I am or my work make no difference to my argument - imagine they were average (IBM, for example, just one of the companies at which I toiled). The average worker, read 80% (the Pareto principle is genius!), will only ever need the most basic features and functionality in an office suite, regardless whether you are secretary, receptionist, director, manager, programmer, marketeer, VP, etc. (I've been several of those positions and I never used the features the few people tout when talking about how functionally superior Office is). For the home user and especially for an average iPad user, iWork is more than adequate, and I'll say it again, the Office UI is pants.

Can't wait to see that damn ribbon on iOS! :D
 

AaronTheYoung

macrumors member
Jan 27, 2010
89
2
Are productivity apps like Pages/Numbers worth it on the iPad?

For $20 bucks, how can you go wrong? I use Pages and Box.net seamlessly to move my MS files back and forth from my iPad/iPhone and Windows computer.

It's an excellent solution and has me needing my laptop down to less than 10% of the time.
 

Marx55

macrumors 68000
Jan 1, 2005
1,915
753
PowerPoint for iOS (iPod touch - iPhone - iPad) is the ultimate presentation tool in your pocket! If it is fully compatible with PowerPoint for Mac and Windows.
 

Krazy Bill

macrumors 68030
Dec 21, 2011
2,985
3
Why in the hell would MS release this for iOS? Office is the only thing they have to distinguish their new tablets from the iPad. :eek:

I think somebody screwed up myself. My only reason for avoiding the iPad altogether was it doesn't do anything useful for the Enterprise segment. I'll have to rethink this now.

Good for me I guess.
 

ras550

macrumors newbie
Jun 4, 2010
6
1
Better late as never ... But anyway for my company deployment we decided an office package from Korea. That had some impressive rendering of PPT files. Also bigger XS files had no issue.
So MS has a bit time to deliver something strong. We might replace if the MS solution is ok. Wish to get a beta version

Which package was this?
 

children

macrumors regular
Dec 22, 2008
248
0
eliminates the single biggest advantage Windows RT tablets have against the iPad..

All i need is a nice portable keyboard case for my iPad ;)
 

Anuba

macrumors 68040
Feb 9, 2005
3,790
393
I wonder how Office will fair against iWork. I can't imagine Microsoft building a better suite for iOS than Apple.
For me it comes down to portability of the documents. Apple dropped the ball on that one -- you have to create a separate iOS copy of your iCloud document, or else the iOS app will butcher it by doing things like arbitrarily changing the size of a custom sized presentation to one of the default ones (and don't get me started on what it does to Numbers layouts). It defeats the whole purpose of bouncing documents between iPad and Mac via iCloud, and that functionality was the only reason I bought iWork for both platforms (I was perfectly happy with Office).

If M$ does better in that department and includes all the standard Office fonts, I'll drop iWork in a split second. I won't get my hopes up though, since your OneNote docs created in Windows are barely recognizable in OneNote for iOS.

Users don't want Microsoft apps on their Apple devices. They want the total integrated solutions such as Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
Being greeted by the warning "This spreadsheet may look different on your iOS than on your Mac. Use Open Copy if you want to preserve the original", followed by more import warnings like "Sheet settings such as headers and footers were removed" is hardly what I'd refer to as "total integration"...
 
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