New Office for Mac to Come Next Spring, Office for iOS Not Arriving Until Fall 2014?

[redman042]

I don't think the Office for iOS release date has anything to do with the time it takes to code the app.

I think it is purely a strategy issue. Lots of competing business concerns are driving the decision of when to release it and how functional to make it, such as subscription pricing, the cut for Apple, and Surface sales.

I also think the date will continue to move around.

 

[ConCat]

It seems like it would be hard to get Office into an iPad App.. It must be for review purposes mostly. How often do you use Numbers or Pages on you iPad?

I find that the key to using Numbers and Pages on your iPad is to start using Numbers and Pages on your iPad. Sounds silly, I know, but a lot of people "can't see themselves" using something, because they never got around to trying to use the thing. You have to stop yourself every time you notice yourself doing something on your Mac or Windows-PC that you could do on your iPad, and switch over. Takes time and effort (so it has to be worth it in the first place), but that's the only way you will ever start using Numbers or Pages on your iPad. Same goes for Siri. I use it all the time. A lot of people on here probably never tried to seriously use it, so they never seriously used it.

 

[mrgraff]

October 2014?? I'll be using iOS 8.1 on my new iPhone 7S by that time! Discussing what the iOS version of Office will be like is almost pointless.

 

[smithrh]

I have a fairly simple spreadsheet that I update via Numbers on my iPhone all the time.

Bad phrasing on my part; I was trying to point out that Apple didn't have iWork for iOS for a long time too.

I probably should have just said that!

 

[nuckinfutz]

on iWork

I'd hazard a guess that the underpinnings of iWork are undergoing a transformation so that the iOS and OS X applications share a common foundation. We really need 100% fidelity of iWork documents across iOS/OSX/iCloud.

Apple will sell so many iPads this year it will boggle the average mind. There's little need in waiting for Microsoft and the Surface appears to be flying like a lead balloon.

 

[Apple Key]

It's funny you should say that, I met with some MS reps in the fall of 2010 and they hinted that Office for iPad was under development, or at least being strongly considered at that time. 2014??? They don't move too swiftly, do they?

Yeah really. I know they have other things they are working on... the surface, phone OS, and Windows OS, but still. I would imagine that this product would sell pretty well to corporate customers.

 

[vmachiel]

I'll be graduating soon, so i won't have to buy the new office. Happy

 

[rhuber]

Office is becoming irrelevant. The iPad has flourished despite not having MS Office and that's an encouraging sign. The days of Microsoft software being a "must have" for success are over.

Today people just care about having some sort of import/export capability and are comfortable with non Microsoft solutions.

I find that nearly impossible to believe. I know my business would seriously struggle without MS Office. It's not a matter of what we use, it's a matter of what everyone else uses. Virtually every document that is sent to us is a Microsoft Office document that simply does not work well with iWork.

Trading office for iWork would be like a commercial photographer deciding to use Gimp instead of Photoshop. Good for him, but good luck to trying to work with anyone outside of your own circle.

 

[Nunyabinez]

I have both Office and iWork on my macs and I've tried really hard to use iWork, but the business world is a .docx and a .xlsx world. The extra steps one has to go through to NOT use Word or Excel is just a pain in the a. Yes, I can open docs in iWork and save out as docs but it requires extra steps. Maybe that makes me lazy, but using iWork is a hassle, unless you are just so ant-MS that you can't bear to use Office.

My biggest complaint is that there are different versions for the Mac and the PC. Obviously, they run on different code bases, but why do they need different functionality? If the ribbon is the way to go, then bring it to the Mac. A huge number of Office for Mac users started out on Office for PC and I for one say quit trying to make it "Mac like." Make office, office, and then you can just port it one way or the other.

 

[smithrh]

I find that nearly impossible to believe. I know my business would seriously struggle without MS Office. It's not a matter of what we use, it's a matter of what everyone else uses. Virtually every document that is sent to us is a Microsoft Office document that simply does not work well with iWork.

Trading office for iWork would be like a commercial photographer deciding to use Gimp instead of Photoshop. Good for him, but good luck to trying to work with anyone outside of your own circle.

Quoted for truth.

To be clear - I'd love to use iWork.

Also to be clear - it would be a seriously stupid move to do so.

 

[nuckinfutz]

The sales of the iPad and iPhone in Enterprise say otherwise. Microsoft Office or the lack thereof is a minor pain point.

 

[gatearray]

Bad phrasing on my part; I was trying to point out that Apple didn't have iWork for iOS for a long time too.

I probably should have just said that!

Well, you might have still been wrong!

Apple released iWork when the iPad was released in 2010, they brought it over to the iPhone and iPod Touch about a year later. Granted, it wasn't on the iPhone in those early days, so maybe that's what you were thinking of as "a long time".

 

[interessiert]

don't need it ;-) OpenOffice (Apache-3.4.1)

We use since introduction and tests of the so buggy Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 the version Open Office (Apache) 3.1 and higher - now V. 3.4.1 as stabilized version. Some troubles reminded us at Windows-nightmares and Word-troubles... so finally we've cut the umbilical cord. No security updates, no repairs necessary Performance is on a high level now, no formatting problems as we know it from MS-Office anymore. Some features are overwhelming like structuring as 1.1-1.2-1.2.1 and so on combined with an automatic directory or graphic features in Calc (calculation sheet) e.g. with time scale. Precious few things really need improvements (very big files with the above mentioned layout or serial letters), printing could be speeded. Up to now we prefer Apache-versions to the heavy advertising LibreOffice ones Pages is nice for private use, but not for business purposes with a lot of layout-templates.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Office for iOS in 2008..... in 2009..... in 2010...... in 20011............... Just going to keep guessing until it finally appear and if it doesn't, just keep pushing back the estimates?

Sometimes MacRumors is nothing more than Nostradamus making as many predictions as possible in hopes that some have to come true and make you appear slightly creditable.

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The sales of the iPad and iPhone in Enterprise say otherwise. Microsoft Office or the lack thereof is a minor pain point.

Werd. Businesses sure don't seem to be hurting without it even if some claim otherwise.

 

[keysofanxiety]

I think Microsoft need to start remembering they're a software company and release Office for iOS (or should've done that earlier). As much as they hate to admit it, not having Office on an iPad/iPhone isn't going to be the turning point in going down the Android/Surface route.

But then if they release Office for iOS, it's almost sealing the deal for Apple's domination in the mobile market, I suppose. Tough one.

 

[ph0rk]

Office is becoming irrelevant.

No it isn't.

 

[Nunyabinez]

The sales of the iPad and iPhone in Enterprise say otherwise. Microsoft Office or the lack thereof is a minor pain point.

If Office for iPad was available, I would only use it for the most minor editing or in extreme situations. An iPad is a crappy device for any serious word processing or spreadsheets. I have a couple of programs for my iPad that can edit Office documents and I can count on one hand the number of times I actually have used them.

So, success of the iPad =/= irrelevance of Office.

 

[rhett7660]

I am wondering if MS doesn't want to release Office for any competing devices. One of the big points for the MS Surface is it can do MS Office!!!!

 

[Nunyabinez]

I think Microsoft need to start remembering they're a software company and release Office for iOS (or should've done that earlier). As much as they hate to admit it, not having Office on an iPad/iPhone isn't going to be the turning point in going down the Android/Surface route.

But then if they release Office for iOS, it's almost sealing the deal for Apple's domination in the mobile market, I suppose. Tough one.

I think MS's problem with Office for iPad is the same thing that leads them to make a device like the Surface. They can't figure out how to squeeze everything in Office onto the iPad screen. I'll admit that it's a problem. How do you make a fully functional version of Office without making everything on the screen tiny? I think it's less an issue of their will and more an issue of their ability and/or their ability to change their mindset.

 

[jayducharme]

How often do you use Numbers or Pages on you iPad?

A lot. It works really well both on the iPad and iPhone. I use it to create all sorts of documents, but most frequently use it simply to take notes at meetings. I can easily create formatting like bulleted lists which I can't do with Notes.

Office is becoming irrelevant.

I left it behind a long time ago. And for MS to take yet another year or two before it's released for iDevices means that it will become even more irrelevant. There are plenty of other mobile options for document creation, from GoogleDocs to NeoOffice. Pages and others can open MS documents and can save as MS doc files if the need is there. Unless MS comes up with some game-changing features, it will be an also-ran.

 

[RMo]

I won't be upgrading. Outlook 2011 was borked out of the gate and MicroSlop refused to fix it. I'll stick with iWork.

I didn't realize iWork came with an Exchange client.

Outlook 2011 has been working fine for me, aside from an odd lack of feature parity with the Windows version (e.g., working with and not just importing PST files; different handling of multiple mailboxes; etc.).

 

[keysofanxiety]

I think MS's problem with Office for iPad is the same thing that leads them to make a device like the Surface. They can't figure out how to squeeze everything in Office onto the iPad screen. I'll admit that it's a problem. How do you make a fully functional version of Office without making everything on the screen tiny? I think it's less an issue of their will and more an issue of their ability and/or their ability to change their mindset.

I suppose that's a good point, but when arguing for Microsoft's logical reasoning, it's dangerous to mention the Surface

 

[jonnysods]

I love MS Office 2011, I wish they would bump the update to this year.

 

[smithrh]

Well, you might have still been wrong!

Apple released iWork when the iPad was released in 2010, they brought it over to the iPhone and iPod Touch about a year later. Granted, it wasn't on the iPhone in those early days, so maybe that's what you were thinking of as "a long time".

Erm...

iPad came out April 3rd, 2010.

iWork for iOS came out March 7th, 2012

Basically two years later.

 

[jobesucks]

Wonder if they ever release support for google calendar sync, outlooks useless to me without it