Microsoft Office for iPad to Launch on March 27

MacRumors · Mar 17, 2014

Microsoft will launch its Office suite on the iPad at a media event on March 27 according to a report from The Verge. The suite -- including Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- has been in the works for years, with recent reports saying the lack of Office on the iPad was costing Microsoft as much as $2.5 billion per year.

The company released a version of Office on the iPhone last year, part of its Office 365 subscription service, and The Verge says the iPad version will also require a 365 subscription.

Microsoft has been working on the software for a number of months now, having first introduced an iOS version of Office for the iPhone in June last year. We understand the iPad variant of Office will be similar to the iPhone version, and will require an Office 365 subscription for editing. We're told that document creation and editing is fully supported for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps. Overall, the interface and features are expected to be similar to the existing iPhone version.

The site says new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will expand on his "mobile first, cloud first" strategy, something demonstrated by the free launch of the Mac version of OneNote earlier today.

Microsoft is also said to have an update for Office for Mac coming in the Spring of 2014.

Update 4:44PM PDT: Twitter user @rgonzalezagui posted what he says is a screenshot of Office for iPad leaked by a Microsoft employee:

@MacRumors leaked by an actual Microsoft employee... pic.twitter.com/llXJLtHwF3 - Ricardo González (@rgonzalezagui) March 17, 2014

Article Link: Microsoft Office for iPad to Launch on March 27

Michaelgtrusa · Mar 17, 2014

They are on fire today.

drewyboy · Mar 17, 2014

A little too late? But really, what took so long?

AngerDanger · Mar 17, 2014

March 27th 2016.

Ayr · Mar 17, 2014

A year ago I would have bought it. Now I don't give a toss.

dumastudetto · Mar 17, 2014

drewyboy said:
A little too late? But really, what took so long?

Yep. Nobody wants this now. Apple nailed it with their iWorks strategy.

Dekema2 · Mar 17, 2014

There's been a boatload of Microsoft on an Apple fan site lately...

arkmannj · Mar 17, 2014

Software subscription (Office 365) no thanks... I would rather pay per app.

Michael Goff · Mar 17, 2014

drewyboy said:
A little too late? But really, what took so long?

They might not have wants to dumb down Office for a touch environment...

Also, porting isn't as simple as pushing a single button.

BornAgainApple · Mar 17, 2014

Steve would never have allowed this, but which one?

laomao · Mar 17, 2014

MacRumors said:
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]

Microsoft will launch its Office suite on the iPad at a media event on March 27 according to a report from The Verge. The suite -- including Word, Excel and PowerPoint -- has been in the works for years, with recent reports saying the lack of Office on the iPad was costing Microsoft as much as $2.5 billion per year.

The company released a version of Office on the iPhone last year, part of its Office 365 subscription service, and The Verge says the iPad version will also require a 365 subscription.

Image
The site says new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella will expand on his "mobile first, cloud first" strategy, something demonstrated by the free launch of the Mac version of OneNote earlier today.

Microsoft is also said to have an update for Office for Mac coming in the Spring of 2014.

Article Link: Microsoft Office for iPad to Launch on March 27

Wrong information on Office for Mac? No report has said MS will release office of mac Spring of 2014. Anyone to confirm?

Michael Goff · Mar 17, 2014

dumastudetto said:
Yep. Nobody wants this now. Apple nailed it with their iWorks strategy.

BWAHAHAHAHA.

arkmannj said:
Software subscription (Office 365) no thanks... I would rather pay per app.

Afraid you don't get it, then. Microsoft doesn't want to basically give money to Apple through Office sales.

Mike MA · Mar 17, 2014

dumastudetto said:
Yep. Nobody wants this now. Apple nailed it with their iWorks strategy.

This is why they reacted?

Michael Goff · Mar 17, 2014

BornAgainApple said:
Steve would never have allowed this, but which one?

Not Ballmer, obviously, since he was talking it up a lot the year before he left.

Frizers · Mar 17, 2014

would happily pay £50 for the suite. But a subscription for a word processor, yeh right.

Cougarcat · Mar 17, 2014

Michael Goff said:
They might not have wants to dumb down Office for a touch environment...

Also, porting isn't as simple as pushing a single button.

Not an excuse, it's been four years.

Apple_Robert · Mar 17, 2014

A lot of pressure on Microsoft with Office. Will it live up to expectation? It looks like we will soon find out.

luckydcxx · Mar 17, 2014

They needed this when the original iPad was introduced, instead they bashed the iPad.

Michael Goff · Mar 17, 2014

Cougarcat said:
Not an excuse, it's been four years.

And? Seriously, Office is a rather big, rather complicated, piece of software.

sflomenb · Mar 17, 2014

And we care why? Especially when there is iWork for iOS, which is free.

Elbon · Mar 17, 2014

No need

I have no need for Office on the iPad. For that matter, I have no need for an iPad. I tried for the last 6 months to use an iPad Air as a replacement for my laptop (a MacBook Pro), and it just fails miserably. It's a great device for browsing content, but not for creating it.

Either way, the iPad's screen spontaneously cracked over the weekend - so I'm done with it. Going back to the laptop.

newagemac · Mar 17, 2014

dumastudetto said:
Yep. Nobody wants this now. Apple nailed it with their iWorks strategy.

Definitely the case with our company. A few years ago, we were basically begging Microsoft to bring Office to the iPad. Now iWork and other solutions are firmly entrenched and at this point it's... meh. iWork is free and cross platform now. And it's much better than Google Docs which Microsoft was originally worried about. Making it free and cross platform pretty much shuts Microsoft's window of opportunity very narrow now. They missed out big time in my opinion.

If only they had realized that sacrificing Office at the alter of Windows meant they would lose both.

Michael Goff · Mar 17, 2014

sflomenb said:
And we care why? Especially when there is iWork for iOS, which is free.

If iWork is enough for you, this isn't meant for you.

DipDog3 · Mar 17, 2014

Yea! I can't wait...

... to not download it.

Frizers · Mar 17, 2014

Michael Goff said:
And? Seriously, Office is a rather big, rather complicated, piece of software.

not 4 years worth of big and complicated

Microsoft Office for iPad to Launch on March 27

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