Microsoft Launching Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad Today

[justin216]

Forgot to add - when Office 2014 for Mac comes out, you'll automatically get it with Office 365. Just food for thought for those on the fence. I don't work for Microsoft or anything, I just see the value in what's offered.

 

[JAT]

Oh, I can see the benefits of it, and it's not really all that expensive, depending on how often you use it, and how much you end up leaning on Skydrive. You get a good deal of stuff for roughly the price of one halfway decent medium pizza a month.

Where are these cheap pizzas from?!

 

[petvas]

365 isn't an in-app purchase. The Office suite is free to download so that Microsoft don't have to give up that 30% on an initial purchase.

You are mistaken. You can buy it directly as an in app purchase (that's how I did it), or go to Microsoft's website and purchase it.

 

[Renzatic]

Where are these cheap pizzas from?!

Where do you live? Around here, we've got a few great Mom 'n Pop chains that sell medium one toppings for about $11.

I should know. I just ordered a couple and some cheese sticks.

 

[jmh600cbr]

very well implemented. very impressive.

 

[Steve121178]

Forgot to add - when Office 2014 for Mac comes out, you'll automatically get it with Office 365. Just food for thought for those on the fence. I don't work for Microsoft or anything, I just see the value in what's offered.

I hope we don't have to wait until the second half of the year for Office 2014.

 

[JAT]

Where do you live? Around here, we've got a few great Mom 'n Pop chains that sell medium one toppings for about $11.

I should know. I just ordered a couple and some cheese sticks.

Should be easy to tell where I am. I suppose if one topping is enough, then that fits. But I'd spring for the $99/yr payment, anyway. There is one ridiculously cheap place (and it looks it) that actually has good sauce. $9 or something for a 16" one-topping. I guess I can't complain.

 

[petvas]

So let me get this right...
I've already paid nearly $300 (Australian) for Microsoft Office for my Mac now I have to pay an extra $120 (Au) a year so I can read/write those documents on my iPad?
And people reckon Micro$oft have woken-up to what year it is?!?!?

I'll be sticking with Documents To Go for $12 thanks very much

I guess you haven't realized what a home premium subscription gives you:

• Office for up to 5 computers (Mac & PC)
• Office for iPad in editing mode
• Office for mobile devices in editing mode
• 20GB of OneDrive storage
• 60 skype minutes/month

If you still think it's not worth it, then ok. I cancelled my Dropbox premium subscription, thus saving most of the money for the O365 subscription. It's much more valuable to me.

 

[dannyyankou]

Let’s welcome Microsoft to the post-PC era.

Welcome, Microsoft. Seriously.

 

[512ke]

How powerful do a spreadsheet program and a document editing program need to be?

It seems like a waste to pay money to do these simple tasks when cheaper alternatives abound.

 

[petvas]

How powerful do a spreadsheet program and a document editing program need to be?

It seems like a waste to pay money to do these simple tasks when cheaper alternatives abound.

I could show you Excel sheets consisting of named variables, nesting, grouping, sorting and much much more, with thousands of lines. Excel is the real king when work has to be done in many professions.

 

[tmanto02]

Finally! Unfortunately I don't really have a need for it now I have finished school. I would love to have a go however.

Microsoft should offer a free 7 day trial of the complete version.

 

[Digital Skunk]

How powerful do a spreadsheet program and a document editing program need to be?

It seems like a waste to pay money to do these simple tasks when cheaper alternatives abound.

True but when those alternatives don't offer a feature you need, that MS Office has then . . . .

 

[deluxeshredder]

Yeah I agree. Keynote ('09, not the new one) is seriously good. PowerPoint has more 'features' but Keynote just packs everything together so well.

I found the new Keynote to be fine after recent updates.

 

[notabadname]

And some will STILL say the iPad is merely a toy, and can't be used for business.

 

[nia820]

So glad I subscribed to office 365 last month. It was right on time

 

[Kariya]

For everyone else, it'll be Office on a computer.

I meant on mobile. Believe it or not there are folks out there whose sole 'computer' is the iPad.

 

[Jimmy James]

I'd rather not. I want to use the best tools if I need them. iWork is ok, but Office is much much better.

Im curious how the costs compare between the old outright purchase system and the new subscription service for someone who updates every revision.

For someone like myself, who would probably be happy with office 2007 almost indefinitely, the old system is much, much better. No doubt that was a big part of the motivation to move to subscription.

 

[IJ Reilly]

This is about enterprise not consumer. Long term it's good for iPad & MS both. It's not something consumers will buy into & MS doesn't care b/c it's not where its bread is buttered.

I'm not so sure. I get lots of Office docs from people who aren't enterprise users. Far from it. Basically these folks are blasting gnats with canons, but they don't know that Office is massive overkill for their needs. The point being, they are Microsoft's Office customers too. Are they going to buy into subscription software? I think not. I think Microsoft is losing those customers.

 

[ScottNWDW]

Finally! Unfortunately I don't really have a need for it now I have finished school. I would love to have a go however.

Microsoft should offer a free 7 day trial of the complete version.

If you took the time to go to the Office 365 website you would see that there is a full 30 day free trial.

 

[petvas]

Im curious how the costs compare between the old outright purchase system and the new subscription service for someone who updates every revision.

For someone like myself, who would probably be happy with office 2007 almost indefinitely, the old system is much, much better. No doubt that was a big part of the motivation to move to subscription.

If you only comparing a single Office license to the O365 offering, then you are right. Think though, you are ignoring a whole lot more than just that.

The new Office for iPad can even connect to Sharepoint websites and OneDrive for business. Another benefit for business users.

 

[Bare]

There's a special place in hell for whoever thought up Office 365.

I'd never even heard of it until today... and I have no interest in it.

 

[Rogifan]

Btw, Apple confirmed to re/code that Apple gets their usual cut from anyone who purchases the subscription via the app.

 

[jedifaka]

A key reason a subscription can be a better deal

Forgot to add - when Office 2014 for Mac comes out, you'll automatically get it with Office 365. Just food for thought for those on the fence. I don't work for Microsoft or anything, I just see the value in what's offered.

'Zacklee. If you have a home subscription, sure, you get the iPad version on up to 5 iPads. But you also get - on the same day you sign up - to download any other versions for up to 5 of your household's computers. Office 2014 is released for OSX? You get that upgrade too.

Home subscribers get 20GB storage per user (up to 5).

Office 365 has clearly, if strangely, rubbed some of the faithful the wrong way. But it's going to be a pretty attractive value for people who like MS Office. Heck, it's a pretty attractive value for people who just like cloud storage.

 

[dec.]

For the business crowd that often relies on compatibility and obscure excel features this obviously is a good thing, for the non-business crowd it could be the opposite as they might really consider their needs and check out alternatives.