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Microsoft Bashes Apple's iWork Software, New iPads

The problem here is that people don't buy the iPad to be a tablet computer. They want the iPad experience. If I wanted a tablet that could do everything, I wouldn't buy a tablet. I'd buy a MBA.

It shouldn't surprise Windows that the Surface isn't doing well. You can buy a $350-$400 computer with decent specs that does everything the surface does, but is, you know, a computer.

I really wish iWorks would render Office completely unnecessary. I personally enjoy Mac Mail and iCalendar, but for presentations in a Windows heavy environment, it's essentially impossible not to have powerpoint. I'm not asking Keynote to be powerpoint, but I wish they were a bit more compatible for viewing and editing. I do think the current update as made some progress, but I still don't trust it to share with clients across a Windows platform.
 
portishead said:
I'm not sure if i've ever seen 1 Surface. The iPad is fine for productivity if you choose to use it as such.
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Yes, it's fine. But it's not great for productivity.

I don't believe the surface as of current is the golden device. But I believe they are on to something that a certain part of the population and a significant part of the enterprise market would appreciate. And that is a market that is pretty much untapped at the moment.
 
Tell that to all the pilots, doctors, and other professionals that use an iPad as part of their job. Now, where are all the ones using the Surface?
 
Microsoft are worried. Office is their primary product now that windows 8 has been a cock up. It's the reason why businesses are still buying windows computers, it's the reason why they are still running Active directory servers compared to other, cheaper. Any offensive on office is a offensive on the core of Microsoft. That's why they don't like any major compitition in this market.
 
Meh. Apple bashed Microsoft, Microsoft bashes back. They're both trying to sell their tablets.

The iPad Air is the one I'm buying.
 
Meh, Apple users tend to be Apple users. I'm not going to buy a surface because it doesn't really integrate as well with all my other junk.
 
The bias against MS on this forum is ridiculous. Yes, I get it, we all like our Apple devices. Was this jab from MS a bit over the top? Probably. That being said, iWork is nowhere NEAR the productivity suite Office is. I really like Keynote as compared to Powerpoint but Excel murders Numbers in ease of use, features, and standardization in the business world. MS knows productivity software and anyone who claims otherwise should go back to making brochures for their beat poetry slam in Pages.
 
Can't believe Microsoft can make such claims, mainly because clearly most people aren't fond of the Surface, It hasn't been selling that well..

Now I can understand the stance taken on getting work done, as It's a hybrid operating system with x86 support, however that comes with a price of spending at least $766+ for the older Surface Pro, and $1059+ for the Surface 2 Pro.

But If you compare the iPad with the Surface RT which are priced the same, and in my opinion are meant to compete with each other, in that respect I think the Surface RT is lacking even more so, It may have a desktop environment, but It's useless, as I'm not aware of any applications that are even written for the desktop experience of RT..

So while Surface RT is a good tablet, I think today most people would prefer the iPad, especially If we are talking about getting work done on a entry level tablet, because iOS has a huge collection of supported Apps that allow you to do more than just Microsoft Office..

And plus, last time I checked Microsoft is bringing Office to iOS :p..
 
WSFrazier said:
Honestly... simply coming from an enterprise standpoint using exchange, I would rather have a tablet that has full Outlook/Calendar and Office with full SharePoint support... than an iPad with iOS Mail and Cal.

I can see where MS is coming from and what they are trying to prove/do, but they are doing it the wrong way bashing Apple.

Where I work, we are trying to remove all laptops from our field users, and replace them with iPads+BT Keyboards only. I can not wait for that disaster.
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I am working now in a very large enterprise on my corporate PC running Outlook and Office. Outlook is just horrible-- slow, with terrible functionality. It takes me 15 minutes to get it going in the morning. If I want to change from mail to my calendar, that's 45 seconds. Using it remotely from home on my PC is a nightmare, although that is more an Exchange problem. Searching is far more limited than what I was doing with corporate systems in the '80s. Managing mail is primitive and terrible. Yes, I'm sure the performance problems have a lot to do with my company centralizing, deduplicating, replicating, doing security stuff and whatever; but that's the reality of the enterprise environment today, which is supposedly MS's strength.

Office is not terrible, but is just complicated bloatware. Excel is pretty good, actually; but I find it exceedingly hard to figure out how to move beyond the basics in the other apps. I use to be more expert at Word and Powerpoint years ago, but MS figured out how to make my favorite advanced features difficult and obscure.
 
Northgrove said:
Haha, Reality Distortion Field? Apple doesn't even have a leader right now half as charismatic as Steve Jobs. This is as if Apple would have joked about Blue Screens of Death yesterday. So tired...

I kind of expected this comment however, with how important Office 365 is to Microsoft and Apple directly comparing that and its subscription free to iWork in iCloud for free and for everyone. This time, with Google having their own similar free offering, Microsoft is the black sheep. And that's problematic, when this is about their key product besides Windows itself. They just can't help themselves but get on the defensive. Going on about Reality Distortion Fields like an old bitter grandpa. Oh boy.
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I had to use 365 once and it was a nightmare. I still believe microsoft purposely makes things complicated so they can keep IT employed and a part of their system.
 
You know the guy that always gripes when a chic isn't into him?

"She just likes the other guys for his looks. She has no idea how funny I am. Etc..."

That's what this is
 
Oh dear...

facepalm.gif
 
I guess MS knew exactly how people on the planet like to work during those 10 or so years they were pushing full scale Windows on pen-based tablets...

I can't stand these copy-cat imitators that change a few aspects of Apple designs and then have the balls to call out Apple.

If Apple didn't do the iPhone and iPad we'll all still be dealing with Treos and WindowsCE (or whatever it was).
 
LOL Apple stock was up over $5 today while Microsoft was down over 2.3%. Microsoft is clueless these days. They don't know whether to be vertical or horizontal. They really should be focusing on Google as I think Google is the bigger threat. Especially now with PC OEMs making cheap Android tablets and Chromebooks.
 
Seems like I'm in the minority here, buuuuut....

MSFT has a pretty valid point. Serious users—and especially serious corporate users—don't use this stuff. The only exception I can think of is quasi-professional presenters who sometimes start with a Keynote template. But Word > Pages and Excel >>>>> Numbers. And while I haven't used a Surface, I've heard good things.

Look people. I've been using Macs since the mid 1980s. I have never purchased any non-Apple PC, phone, music player, etc. But give MSFT credit where it's due. They're really ***** good when it comes to matters of productivity and business. You can be an Apple fan and still acknowledge the strengths of your competitors. Doing so does not weaken you, your position, or your love for your product.
 
Still

The good news is that Microsoft understands how people work better than anyone else on the planet.
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They still don't understand why people get tablets or what do they use it for.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
 
Rogifan said:
LOL Apple stock was up over $5 today while Microsoft was down over 2.3%. Microsoft is clueless these days. They don't know whether to be vertical or horizontal.
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Please tell me you don't take day-to-day stock prices as an indicator of, well, anything at all.

Signed,
Guy who makes his money trading stocks
 
Of course MS is right for those who need to collaborate on Word documents on a tablet.

And they are right also for the MORONS who think they should SEND a Word document out instead of a PDF for things like contracts, newsletters, etc.

But for everyone else, Pages opens word documents, saves to word and outputs PDFs.
Gasu E. said:
Office is not terrible, but is just complicated bloatware. Excel is pretty good, actually; but I find it exceedingly hard to figure out how to move beyond the basics in the other apps. I use to be more expert at Word and Powerpoint years ago, but MS figured out how to make my favorite advanced features difficult and obscure.
Click to expand...

Excel is the only reason to own Office. Despite all the upgrades and bloat to it since it was first released -- on a Mac -- it still does what it is supposed to do and basically works the same way it always did, but better. I haven't found numbers to be anywhere close to a replacement.

But if Microsoft thinks iPad owners need Office, then make Office for the iPad. They have had years to prepare.
 
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