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Microsoft Launching Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad Today

Well, I applaud the effort to bring these Apps to iOS and to have them in iOS7 look.

BUT:

They are late to the game
They are charging too much to use these

Let users get them FREE (like Apple) and then maybe Pay for EXTRAS but the subscription model will not attract many users to these when others are FREE.
 
If this had been a £14.99 app that didn't need the 365 sub I would have downloaded it. As it is, I'll just use the free alternatives that do the job well enough.
 
MisakixMikasa said:
Because you do not sign up office 365 from App Store, hence Microsoft does not pay Apple 30% for the subscription fee? And the apps are free, so Apple get nothing from that?

Microsoft does not really need App Store to push their app, but App Store is the only way for mess to get apps...If you can side load the app, Microsoft won't even bother to put their apps in App Store.
Click to expand...
Then why does the App Store lists a $99 in-app purchase subscription.

Top In-App Purchases

Office 365 Home$99.99
Click to expand...
 
MG Siegler has an interesting take, saying with this announcement MS is basically admitting that Surface is a failure. I do wonder what Windows OEMs think about this announcement. They don't have Office as a bragging right anymore. Or the Samsung's of the world as this isn't available for Android.

http://parislemon.com/post/80893185968/52-days
 
In true to form fashion as soon as I opened up Microsoft Excel, my iPad crashed. DELETE. No thanks MSFT!
 
I will not be paying for a subscription service. Microsoft has lost a lot of users by coming too late to the table with these offerings. I HAVE to use excel on the desktop, but only because the company i work for requires it and is afraid to use Apples iWork package for some fear it won't be compatible with customers and the like.... Even though we all use Apple computers to do the majority of our work....


So sorry, Microsoft... You will not be getting any more of my money!!
 
Michael Scrip said:
*Citation needed

;)
Click to expand...

Well, considering they have a home edition I think it's obvious. I remember the days of Word 1.0 and Excel 2.2. In those days there wasn't a clear separation between consumer and professional software of this type. I'd call it prosumer for a long time before it became seen as "professional."
 
smithrh said:
Are there not dozens if not hundreds of applications that will read MS Office file now?
Click to expand...

You mean like Pages? Sure. Why would I start using MS now? I already have Pages, free of charge, with the ability to open, manipulate, and display Word docs. Where is the economic incentive to cause me to migrate? Why would I pay a fee for Office 360 when I can already do 90+% of what it does, free of charge? MS is REALLY banking hard on that 10%. I can't justify it. If you can, then you are one of the people MS Office on the iPad is made for. I suspect that the number that will surprise everyone, is how low adoption of Office on the iPad really is.

Unless I'm wrong. I suppose that could be the case too....
 
bearboy said:
Just saw on Engadget that Android users get to use Office for free. No subscription required.

WTF MS!
Click to expand...

Microsoft's Office Mobile for Android and iPhone is free for everyone as long as you log into your Microsoft account. It's scaled down in it's editing capability.

The much more feature rich individual iPad apps are the only ones that require an Office 365 Subscription to edit.

I have to assume if feature rich individual Android apps come out for android tablets they will have the same subscription requirement to edit as the iPad versions.
 
Last edited:
nwcs said:
Well, considering they have a home edition I think it's obvious. I remember the days of Word 1.0 and Excel 2.2. In those days there wasn't a clear separation between consumer and professional software of this type. I'd call it prosumer for a long time before it became seen as "professional."
Click to expand...

Sure... but how many people who buy a $399 laptop at Best Buy will also buy Office Home and Student for $139 ?

I think you're overestimating the "consumer" appeal.

Like I said earlier... enterprise/corporate is who uses Office the most.
 
Rogifan said:
MG Siegler has an interesting take, saying with this announcement MS is basically admitting that Surface is a failure. I do wonder what Windows OEMs think about this announcement. They don't have Office as a bragging right anymore. Or the Samsung's of the world as this isn't available for Android.

http://parislemon.com/post/80893185968/52-days
Click to expand...

you wouldnt accept such loose and liberal interpretations of anything apple related.

nadella just took over and the ipad is the most popular tablet and quite rightly the best office suite should be available there.

even if surface would surpass the ipad later on that isnt going to happen overnight
 
At this point, I am just hoping Microsoft does not do away with the option of "purchase the full software and own it" i.e. non-subscription format/buy the software outright with Office 2014...

I have a feeling Microsoft is going to a Office 365 subscription-only format like Adobe has done with Creative Cloud.

That is just my thoughts.

I actually like to buy and own the software, not give up my credit card for re-bill after rebill until I cancel some service. And not be required to have an active Internet connection when I use the software too.
 
gpsouza said:
This hate comes from those who want to crack it (myself included). If you are a person that just want to use photoshop to mess a little bit and nothing else (like me), having to pay for it really sucks. But if you are a large enterprise, then is just the same paying for subscription or one-time fee
Click to expand...

Hate is a strong word. I am venting extreme frustration at subscription only software. To be clear, I am not actually wishing someone be sent to a hell, it is just a common expression of extreme displeasure.

I actually do own, and paid for, a full legal copy of Adobe CS6 and enjoy it very much. Before that I had CS1, also a full paid legal copy. Upgrading from CS1 to CS6 was great. Even though it is not as expensive, I had a similar upgrade path by using Filemaker 9 for many years, and now just bought Filemaker 13; which is awesome.

So I am perfectly willing to buy expensive software when I can financially, and when my needs justify it. However, I detest having to rent software and then the very moment I can no longer pay I am shut out. To me that is bad business.

I do understand that subscription software is attractive to businesses and enterprises, since they can list it as a monthly expense; or if they pay for a year in advance they can amortize that expense month by month for that year. So by all means offer the option of subscription software to those who want it, but it is another thing entirely to offer only subscription software.

Autodesk is a good example of a balanced approach; they offer both subscription software and a standalone copy of nearly all their software. I would very much like to see both Microsoft and Adobe take this approach.
 
gpsouza said:
Albeit iWork is free, it still sucks for scientific docs. It's simply painful to add an equation to pages and it requires MathType, which is $97 ($57 academic). That been said, it's a fair price that Microsoft charges for college students. Only $79 for 4 years of subscription it's a deal for me. If I am capable of editing equations on word for ipad, it's obviously the right choice to buy it.
Click to expand...

So $79 is better than $59? I only ask because I chose Pages with MathType over Office while working on my Masters, partly because it was less expensive. I think I did my math right....
 
WardC said:
At this point, I am just hoping Microsoft does not do away with the option of "purchase the full software and own it" i.e. non-subscription format/buy the software outright with Office 2014...

I have a feeling Microsoft is going to a Office 365 subscription-only format like Adobe has done with Creative Cloud.

That is just my thoughts.

I actually like to buy and own the software, not give up my credit card for re-bill after rebill until I cancel some service. And not be required to have an active Internet connection when I use the software too.
Click to expand...

Not sure now Microsoft does it... but I think you only have to be online once every 90 days to check-in with Adobe.
 
BJMRamage said:
Well, I applaud the effort to bring these Apps to iOS and to have them in iOS7 look.

BUT:

They are late to the game
They are charging too much to use these

Let users get them FREE (like Apple) and then maybe Pay for EXTRAS but the subscription model will not attract many users to these when others are FREE.
Click to expand...

Heartily agree. I would at least try the suite for the heck of it if it was free. As it is, I wouldn't bother downloading the thing and have it taking up hard drive space. I pay Apple enough already to bother paying Microsoft a 365 subscription.
 
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