Microsoft Bashes Apple's iWork Software, New iPads

[john123]

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.

You just described a bunch of problems with implementation, none of which is inherent to Microsoft software. Sounds like you have a CTO who is either oblivious or doesn't care. I can assure you that competent IT departments serve companies with tens and even hundreds of thousands of employees without the kinds of performance problems you're describing.

 

[Baumi]

Oh the surface, that tablet that I have seen......NOWHERE!

(Literally)

(Seriously, not even in the shops here!)

Actually, I've seen it in a big shop here (Berlin) – they had a display for both Surface and Windows Phones, putting them next to each other to highlight some sort of sync feature supposedly useful for business people.

Needless to say, there were no business people anywhere near the machines. A bunch of kids used the phones to play games, though, while the Surfaces were just sitting there, eschewed by everyone.

 

[Michael Goff]

I don't know what's more sad ... what Microsoft said or what some of the people here are saying.

It's close.

 

[knemonic]

Doesn't the surface rt come with office, for free? What an idiot.

 

[Smigit]

The good news is that Microsoft understands how people work better than anyone else on the planet.

Right. Because decisions such as removing the start button in Windows 8 went so well.

 

[Squilly]

To be fair, I am having a hard time deciding between the Surface Pro 2 and iPad (disregarding price). One runs a full fledged OS while the other is meant to be a mobile operating system. I want the best of both worlds while still having the ability to game a little bit and get productive with my tablet. Getting to be an increasingly difficult decision for me as the best of both worlds isn't here yet. iPad is really tempting with T-Mobile's free 4G but semi-lacking OS while the Surface is really tempting because of it's full-fledged OS but awful battery life and bulkiness.

 

[ScubaCinci]

@M$ - Sour grapes much?

Double your battery life then you may begin to have my attention.

 

[appleii.c]

The one thing I can't argue is that Word still trumps Pages on many levels. Basic word processing, no worries, you can choose either. But every time I launch Pages and want to do something a little more robust, I keep going back to Word.

Truth be told, even Word isn't the best. I'd prefer Frame Maker for professional quality docs creation, but Adobe axed OSX support years ago.

There really isn't a professional level word processing/publishing platform for Mac or iOS, more's the pity.

I keep hoping that Apple will beef up Pages to the point of professional, but no dice.

This may be true... I too believe that Word and Excel are better than Pages and Numbers. If you are publishing books or are an accountant, I would understand. but for 99% of the people out there who want to write docs, and keep expenses or everyday spreadsheet tasks, iWork is perfect. I have absolutely zero need for pivot tables on excel or any of the other "professional" features. And compatibility... the latest Pages plays very nice with Word docs.

 

[REM314]

Honestly I'm considering a Surface or Nexus 7 as my next tablet. Not very professional for MS to bash Apple though. Highlight your product, dont put down others. Then again didn't Apple make a similar remark yesterday about how no other companies understand tablets like they do? That was also stupid and not true.

 

[mandoman]

Microsoft sucks now.
Windows 8, Surface Tablets, Windows Phone, Xbox 1...
They must be smoking some good stuff over at Microsoft Hq

yep, not to mention subscription based Office 365, ick!

 

[TsMkLg068426]

Microsoft just mad because Apple gave away their version Office iWork and iLife for free and Mac OS also. What did Windows do? Just gave away Windows 8.1 for free not their Office software. May they should let people get Office Pro free upgrade.

 

[bbfc]

Actually, I've seen it in a big shop here (Berlin) – they had a display for both Surface and Windows Phones, putting them next to each other to highlight some sort of sync feature supposedly useful for business people.

Needless to say, there were no business people anywhere ear the machines. A bunch of kids see the phones to play games, though, while the Surfaces were just sitting there, eschewed by everyone.

I don't think I've seen any Surface tablets on show in any shop I've been in. If they were they must of been well hidden.

 

[Edsel]

Microsoft dominates in corporate offices and the Surface is designed to integrate in corporate networks. Apple is a very minor player in the worldwide corporate enterprise.

 

[ericinboston]

"...Let’s be clear – helping folks kill time on a tablet is relatively easy. Give them books, music, videos and games, and they’ll figure out the rest. Pretty much all tablets do that."


MS has a very valid point. Trying to use the iPad for business-type work productivity is impossible...for example, to write anything longer than 2 sentences is painful. Oh sure, go buy an $80 keyboard for your $500+ iPad. But then there are a lot of other things (which I witnessed today with a few teachers) such as the horrific way to cut and paste, select, etc.

I have not used the Surface...but if Apple or Samsung or MS or whoever can actually create a tablet that 1)excels in typing, 2)excels in normal document editing, 3)creates cross platform docs, 4)<gasp!> allows the use of a mouse, well then that's taking tablets to a whole new level.

I like our iPad 3...but it is impossible to use for so many "work" things I do on my computer...and have been doing on my computer for 20+ years. It's the nature of the current Tablet Era as I see it.

 

[Gasu E.]

"Seems like the RDF (Reality Distortion Field) typically generated by an Apple event has extended beyond Cupertino," writes Shaw

I believe this has been said more eloquently before.

You weak minded fool! He’s using an old Jedi mind trick… Your mind powers will not work on me, boy.

 

[Zerotolerance]

When people want to get work done, they turn to a desktop computer, and if it's a PC, the computer they're working on today is more likely to be running Windows XP or Windows 7 than anything else. Understand that, Microsoft.

 

[barrett14]

Microsoft is a nightmare and I used to be their fanboy, hating Apple.

I purchased the Mac Office version that didn't include Outlook. I later decided I wanted the program and Microsoft told me that the only way to get it would be to repurchase the entire suite, that included Outlook for $200....

Something like that would NEVER happen with Apple.

 

[mandoman]

To be fair, I am having a hard time deciding between the Surface Pro 2 and iPad (disregarding price). One runs a full fledged OS while the other is meant to be a mobile operating system. I want the best of both worlds while still having the ability to game a little bit and get productive with my tablet. Getting to be an increasingly difficult decision for me as the best of both worlds isn't here yet. iPad is really tempting with T-Mobile's free 4G but semi-lacking OS while the Surface is really tempting because of it's full-fledged OS but awful battery life and bulkiness.

Disregarding price, get a MBA 11"

 

[Parasprite]

Shaw goes on to suggest that since iWork has never "gotten much traction", Apple's decision to provide both free upgrades and free software to new users was insignificant as it was "already priced like an afterthought"

Yeah, basically. It doesn't help that they only make it available for OS X and don't provide a way to open or convert iWork files without having a Mac in front of you. But that really wasn't what it was desig...

and it's difficult to work on a device that "lacks precision input and a desktop for true side-by-side multitasking."

Oooh, they meant iWork on the iPad.

On another note, Shaw must have been one of the people in charge of Office Mobile for Office 365 on iOS, because that description is spot on.

Windows 8 sucks. Everyone knows it.

It's better on a touch screen than with a mouse, but not really optimized for either. Which is really a shame because on the surface (heh), it appears as though Microsoft did exactly what people feared would happen on OS X (see: iOS-ification), and it looks like they just slapped a touchscreen interface mode on top of Windows 7.

Maybe 8.2 or later will clean things up a bit. Microsoft tends to do that (XP vanilla and XP SP3 were practically different operating systems in terms of security and usability).

 

[dannyyankou]

No matter what Frank Shaw says won't change the fact that Apple will probably sell more iPads next weekend than Microsoft sold surfaces in all of 2013.

 

[dec.]

So now it's just a matter of time for Apple to start a program where you can trade all of your Surface 2's in for an iPad mini Retina or something

 

[phillipduran]

How can they possibly trash talk from the devastatingly bad position they are in? Their Windows 8 OS is horrible and is being avoided like the plague. Even other companies are blaming their bad performance on the Windows 8 debacle.

Surface is a horrible failure. Like 2 people bought them and they are dissatisfied customers. They are probably iPad owners now.

I suppose all the squealing makes sense . . .Apple stuck the knife in and twisted.

 

[jameslmoser]

In my opinion MS isn't entirely wrong, but I certainly didn't buy my iPad or iPhone to get work done... I have a notebook and desktop for that, which I would much rather use. I'm sure some people who bought an iPad as a replacement for their computer might need to use it for productivity on occasion, but even they probably use it more for just email and browsing the web, maybe some games.

 

[Bruce Oksol]

The much-talked-about, seldom-seen...

Surface.

I am on the road all the time. I have never (repeat: never) seen a Surface outside of a Microsoft store. Folks are buying tons of them, according to Microsoft, but they must be using them at home, taking work home with them at night, after using PCs at work. I have never seen a Surface in "mobile" mode. As Microsoft has noted, they know "productivity." And everyone just loves to continue working on business projects once they get home.

I see iPads everywhere. I am seeing them more and more at sporting events, folks watching "play-by-play" or something else, and using the iPad to take movies and photos of the event. I honestly don't know, but I assume the Surface has a camera also.

 

[Stella]

yep, not to mention subscription based Office 365, ick!

$99 is good value, IMO if you use Office on a regular basis, not forgetting free upgrades of major versions i.e., 2011 to 2013. If you register now, you'll get Office 2013 for Mac for free. You've saved money already.

Same price as Apple / iPhone developer registration.