Microsoft Office for iPad Awaiting Completion of 'Touch First' Interface for Windows Version

[notjustjay]

At the end (in the early/mid 90's) I ran C-Net BBS on an Amiga, an 85 Meg HDD, and 4 Phone lines in (at 56K) plus a telnet line. Of course we had FIDO email (which I was a node for) !!!

Nice talking to someone who remembers the good old days

Wow! I remember those days too. My first home web browsing experiences were using tools like Lynx, while logged into the local C-NET BBS (running 12 phone lines!) He even had a gateway into "real" internet email and newsgroups. With 12 concurrent users, you could send messages between them (predating ICQ and texting), put up "who banners" with a short status message (predating Facebook status messages), and do real-time chats. Great times.

Anyway, at this point I think it's too little, too late for Microsoft. There are a ton of free alternatives now including Apple's own apps. If they want to salvage the market they need to release their apps NOW.

 

[itguy06]

"Locally" isn't exactly the strong suit of a tablet. Most people want more access. Check the reviews since the new version came out.

Don't care about other uses. I don't store my docs in the cloud for the most part. It does not require Google Docs to use and works fine.

That being said I really don't like the app, but I paid for it so I use it. It's got a bunch of bugs and usability issues that they still have not fixed.

 

[Digital Dude]

I think the thing is that Microsoft is trying to raise the standards of what can be done on a tablet. And I applaud them for that, since Apple and Google seem content to have the bare minimum. Also, I doubt they could have ported Office to the iPad before when they're doing it... unless they want to do it sloppy. Office is a big beast with a lot of code, it takes a while to slim down.

Which leads me to my next point. Office for the last tenor thirteen years has been all about taking the tasks that we do and making them faster. You're right, it is feature complete. Now we just polish the stone until we think of the next correct feature that people don't know they need yet.



In other words, you still use it because it's the best tool for the job for you?

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It could have something to do with the fact that making a good office suite isn't exactly simple.

YES!!! That's exactly what I'm saying. In fact, some people don't even know that Microsoft Word was originally an exclusively written for the Mac, as Windows didn't even exist at the time. Steve Jobs asked Bill Gates to develop a word processor for the Mac's GUI interface.

Still, that was decades ago and Apple has continued to flounder with Apple Works and now 'Pages' which remains to be a very rinkey-dink attempt at a word processor. Again, in Apple's defense, Pages is great at making a document look pretty.

Word Processing: Typically, I'll write or dictate my document in Microsoft Word which handles the spelling and grammar check magnificently, and then I'll cut n' paste the document into Pages in order to make it look nice.

Display Viewing: I've become quite proficient at using command+ when using Safari to view websites, documents etc. on my graphic displays. Conversely, if I don't want to bother with Command+ I simply go into Google Chrome settings and change the magnification to 207% so that I can view everything nicely from about 24-inches. Now, you would think that Apple would offer the same ability within Safari, but for whatever reason they don't, or at least if they do I haven't figured out how to do it.

I've been using Apple products since 1983 and there are two things that Apple does not have the capacity to solve.
1). Scaling of text and graphics on their desktop displays.
2). Development of a Grammar check module within whatever fruitless attempt at word processing they have ever made.

 

[notjustjay]

Still, that was decades ago and Apple has continued to flounder with Apple Works and now 'Pages' which remains to be a very rinkey-dink attempt at a word processor. Again, in Apple's defense, Pages is great at making a document look pretty.

I think that the key point here is that Pages was meant to be a publishing/layout program first, and a word processor second. It is clearly designed to make beautiful, short documents, like flyers and newsletters.

You probably wouldn't use Adobe InDesign to write a novel. Same principle here.

Even Microsoft Word starts to break down for very long, figure-rich documents. When I was working on a Master's thesis containing lots of footnotes, references, formulas and charts, I quickly abandoned Word after it started to get crashy and unstable. I used LaTeX instead and it was much more manageable.

 

[Tanegashima]

I got this.

This a part of a deal between Microsoft and Apple.

Apple will transition Mac to ARM platform and may get better performance-per-watt, and cheaper CPU's than what Intel offers, and may get even better traction to steal the led of the IC business from Intel.

Microsoft will have access to "MARM" (Mac+ARM) for it's "Metro" platform to expand and gain apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms (which are the same thing).

Apple will be happy because it will have another good selling point for iPads and many Office App's (30%).

Microsoft will be happy because it will sell many Windows 8 licenses, will solidify it's "Metro" Environment, it's Office product line and what not.

Google loses.

 

[Michael Goff]

I got this.

This a part of a deal between Microsoft and Apple.

Apple will transition Mac to ARM platform and may get better performance-per-watt, and cheaper CPU's than what Intel offers, and may get even better traction to steal the led of the IC business from Intel.

Microsoft will have access to "MARM" (Mac+ARM) for it's "Metro" platform to expand and gain apps for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms (which are the same thing).

Apple will be happy because it will have another good selling point for iPads and many Office App's (30%).

Microsoft will be happy because it will sell many Windows 8 licenses, will solidify it's "Metro" Environment, it's Office product line and what not.

Google loses.

Of course Google loses, they've put themselves in a position to where no other company really wants to work with them.

 

[Tanegashima]

Of course Google loses, they've put themselves in a position to where no other company really wants to work with them.

Sorry, why?

 

[Michael Goff]

Sorry, why?

Why what?

 

[mr.bee]

I'm all up for using iWork exclusively, but I need pivot tables just as in Excel but in numbers!!
Not a quirky alternative.

 

[asrai]

I'm sure in true M$ fashion the app will cost over $100.

 

[DVK916]

On MS Word:

Hey I get that you feel like MS Office's version of the word processor is fundamentally better than any other word processor. I have no idea how you could think that and I do fundamentally disagree. But hey - that would be the "just the bare minimum" view. That's totally ignoring the mystique i do admit.

On Outlook:

See above - the worst email/contact manager going.

On Excel:

Its a spreadsheet. Can you do vertical-lookups and pivot tables elsewhere? Sure can.

On Power Point:

No comment.

On Skydrive integration:

That's not bad, but certainly not unique.

In summation:

Like whatever you want. I don't care.

But the hype about MS Office is Just Too Damn High.

You are being ignorant. Office is capable of doing far more than you just mentioned. Nothing comes close to excel in terms of being able to do complex calculations in spread sheets. It is use in the business world is unparalleled, because what it can do, is beyond anything the competition has.

Their is so much ignorance in this thread, from people who obviously never worked in a business world, or have a clue on how to do anything in office.

 

[Digital Dude]

I think that the key point here is that Pages was meant to be a publishing/layout program first, and a word processor second. It is clearly designed to make beautiful, short documents, like flyers and newsletters.

You probably wouldn't use Adobe InDesign to write a novel. Same principle here.

Even Microsoft Word starts to break down for very long, figure-rich documents. When I was working on a Master's thesis containing lots of footnotes, references, formulas and charts, I quickly abandoned Word after it started to get crashy and unstable. I used LaTeX instead and it was much more manageable.

Agreed, Apple doesn't really want to get into word processing software but the illusion remains. Frankly I'm not sure it makes much difference since I seldom write anything that would exceed Microsoft word and its capabilities. I'll just continue to use Word as my text editor and then if I have to mail it in paper format I'll just cut-and-paste it into Pages and send it off via snail-mail.