Microsoft 'Looking At' Bringing Office to Apple's Mac App Store

[igazza]

I hope so, i would buy word.

 

[-SD-]

I can't see why Microsoft wouldn't want Office available in as many places as possible. It would be nice to have the option to purchase each App individually, but the retail pricing would need to be reassessed. The difference in price between Home/Student and Home/Business is about £100 (going by RRP), and that's just to get Outlook.

I think they'd do much better charging £20 each for Word, Excel and Powerpoint and maybe £25-30 for Outlook.

And yeah, I'd love Office for iPad. I'd also like a 'My Day' app for the iPhone to replace the standard calendar and make sure Office syncs properly.

 

[asdf542]

Office 2011 still uses Carbon which breaks the Mac App Store guidelines. Unless Apple eases up on their restrictions or Microsoft finishes reqriting their apps I don't see this happening.

Edit: After doing some digging it seems that Carbon isn't explicitly ever stated in the guidelines so maybe this isn't an issue. Are there currently any apps in the Mac App Store that contain Carbon code that anyone knows of?'

Edit 2: From the looks of it iLife '11 still uses Carbon code so this probably isn't an issue.

 

[RMo]

Furthermore, to those who use OpenOffice and it's own file formats, only yesterday I was talking to someone at work who, when assessing candidates for a job, had been sent a CV in an apparently unreadable file format. It was an OpenOffice file format, and in a company where no software or system changes can be made by end users, he had no quick way of assessing this prospective employee's details.

P.

D.

F.

I see no reason to send a resume in any other format--it's not like it's intended for editing on the receiving end.

 

[nwcs]

I think it would be smart of them to include it. Clearly they don't need to have it but I think it would capture sales they otherwise might not have. For me, the only thing I'm interested in is Outlook. Apple's Mail is OK but I like Outlook better.

 

[weckart]

OpenOffice is more than adequate for 99.999999% of all users called Cinch. Google docs is getting there.

Fixed that for you and filed under "Pull a random fictitious stat out of my backside".

Having endured Org since it was Starwriter for OS/2, I wish I could agree with you. It was a slow ponderous code mess then and it hasn't got any faster since. It's free, although it used to cost when it was Star Office. You can create documents and spreadsheets and presentations with it. That's about it for its advantages.

 

[nefan65]

Excel and Work, Office et-al are no more powerful than iWork. I've seen "Excel Power" users. Sorry, linking sheets together, and a few formulas isn't "Power"...

If I were to start any new company, I'd forgo any/all Microsoft products. Mac/Linux on the desktop, Linux on the server. OpenOffice is more than sufficient for most, if not all internal use. Like others have said; if an outside entity needs a copy of something, send a PDF. There's no need for editable copy...

 

[ghostface147]

Did you even read the article? This is about Office in the Mac App Store... not the iOS App Store.

Of course I read it, but I don't care about the Mac App Store. I get Office for Mac for 10 bucks through our company. They also said they are looking to expand onto the other platforms, which may include iOS. They already have some light experience with OneNote.

 

[thetexan]

I thought the whole M$ thing died out years ago. I find it kind of ironic to blast Microsoft for raking in the money when Apple has some of the highest markups in the computing industry.

 

[elppa]

"It's something we haven't ruled out," she said. "We just have to see how that relates to our business."


LOL. It seems Apple doesn't know when it's been given the brush off.


Excactly *why* in god's name would MS need the App Store to move copies of office and forego 30% of their revenue by doing so?

Unless Office is sold at their massive chain of 4 Microsoft retail stores they will forego some of the revenue anyway.

Apple to M$ 'Sorry M$ Junkware is prohibited on the Mac App Store. Come back in 10 years with your new Cocoa Apps and we'll reassess the request'.

This is the kind of junk that should be banned from the Mac App Store, along with all that *****e Adobe peddles and any other Carbon junk that developers have been too lazy to rebuild in Cocoa.

Guess this explains why iTunes isn't on the Mac App Store then.

 

[WyoMac]

Excactly *why* in god's name would MS need the App Store to move copies of office and forego 30% of their revenue by doing so?

1. Because it stands a good chance of selling to customers who otherwise might not buy at all.

2. By the time software goes through a distributor like Ingram Micro and then a reseller, the markup is likely 30% or more anyway.

 

[jonnysods]

That would be so cool. Then I can upgrade all four of my Macs using the same iTunes account. I say bring it!

 

[gorgeousninja]

It's a good thing Apple writes ROCK SOLID software that you can rely on. They definitely did not have a bug in iPhoto 2011 which could cause data loss, nor did they have a software bug in OS X 10.6 that could cause data loss with an upgraded guest account.

I just can't wait for the day that Microsoft writes 100% perfect software, just like Apple! I don't even know why Apple has a software update feature, I mean, all of the software is just so solid that updates aren't needed, right?

we get your point, but the movie's funnier..

 

[aaronsullivan]

I'm always hoping for stronger competitive alternatives to Microsoft Office, but few exist. It's all almost this or almost that. Fortunately, Microsoft has to compete with their own last version from time to time, so it creates stuff like the ribbon which I personally consider a useful UI development (even though many resist/hate it).

My point is, part of me hopes Microsoft continues to delay its Office ports to iOS and stays out of the Mac App Store for awhile. It opens up some big opportunities for others to get a foothold and keep the pressure back on Microsoft. It's good for consumers that way. I'm hoping Apple is applying some serious resources to the iWork suite at the moment, for instance.

That said, I'd welcome an Office port to iOS and obviously welcome it to the Mac App Store. If iPad and iPhone continue to dominate, Microsoft will be forced to do it soon, anyway.

Oh, and about the small Mac user base. It IS much smaller than the iOS App Store, BUT Mac OS X Lion is ALL about strengthening the halo effect that has been bringing new users to Macs and increasing sales quarterly for years now. People who love their iPhones and iPads are going to have a "wow" moment when they walk into an Apple store and see full-on desktops and laptops with so many familiar interfaces and ideas. It's a genius move by Apple, imo, even if the more technically oriented and traditional Apple computer users resist it. (In my dreams, I can even imagine a tipping point where it makes sense for Apple to offer a mid-range non-all-in-one desktop. After all, a successful Mac App Store could be a revenue stream for Apple that could help offset smaller margins on hardware.)

Think about it from Microsoft's perspective. Can Microsoft add interface elements and ideas from Windows Phone 7 to Windows 8 and expect any significant number of users to think its cool or even appealing?

My only disappointment is that Apple isn't going for the multitouch thing a little bit stronger. Steve is probably right about arms getting tired using monitors for multitouch, but twist the hardware around to make it all work, man! That's what Apple is all about!

 

[Poll Smoker]

Apple to M$ 'Sorry M$ Junkware is prohibited on the Mac App Store. Come back in 10 years with your new Cocoa Apps and we'll reassess the request'.

This is the kind of junk that should be banned from the Mac App Store, along with all that *****e Adobe peddles and any other Carbon junk that developers have been too lazy to rebuild in Cocoa...

Like iWork?

I love how stupid people make stupid comments, then disappear from the rest of the thread.

Where'd you go, Drayon? Out curing cancer?

 

[Popeye206]

Maybe, but Microsoft is used to getting MUCH better deals than that. Let's put it as simple as it is: Microsoft dictates its terms, it doesn't ask for them. And you can rest assured that if Microsoft was willing to bring Office to the AppStore, Apple would give them better conditions than the standard 70/30 split. They would have to do the same for Adobe for the same reasons: Without Adobe and Microsoft products, the Mac platform wouldn't even be around anymore, and despite their big mouths, the folks at Apple know that all too well.

Winni.... don't be so sure about this. I have experience on both ends and retailers have a lot of pull with manufactures too. They need each other and Adobe and MS are use to dealing with much higher discounts with Distributors than 30%. So, I would think MS would be happy to play in the 30% margin game. But of course... I wouldn't be surprised they would negotiate too.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

30% cut is reasonable considering the potential for increased volume. This will also help shut down some of Apple's momentum as the premiere office suite on the Mac App Store.

So Adobe, can we expect CS6 on the Mac App Store?

Haha, when hell freezes over...though I can see them selling more basic products like Elements and Acrobat Reader (free) on here.

The top CS5 pack is $ 2,600 $780

Creative Suite 5 Design Premium upgrade is $600 so they give up $180 full $1900 No way adobe will give up $570 per sale.

 

[0815]

If they split Outlook out as a seperate App would buy it, certainly don't intend on buying complete Office 2011 just to get that.

I only need outlook - the company I'm working for just bought the whole expensive package. i haven't started word or excel (happy iWork user) ... but I guess it is a financially better for MS to sell only the whole package since (bigger) companies just go ahead and buy the whole package. They probably make more money on selling the whole bundle instead of selling the individual applications separate since people would than actually only buy what they need.

 

[SeattleMoose]

Not A MS Fan But.....

EXCEL is their best product and has always been the best spreadsheet app in the world. It is the only MS product I would consider buying if it were available on its own.

 

[GoodWatch]

That's about all most people need. I have yet to find a reason to include animated fonts in my business documents.

I'd much rather see Mariner Write make the journey to iOS. I simply cannot see Microsoft writing a thin version of ANYTHING, which is what they would have to do to land an iOS spot. I don't think it is in their DNA.

You mean thin like the 157.7 MB iTunes? Just to play MP3s, flicks and sync with iDevices?

 

[bugfaceuk]

But unless you actually *need* the other ~50% of functionality, 35-50% for 0% of the price is still a good bargain. Imagine if Apple offered a "MacBook Free" that had 50% of the features for 0% of the price - how many people do you think would jump at it?

I'm not convinced that many people *do* actually need all the functionality of Office (not least because MS has said that they introduced the ribbon in part because people *didn't* find out about all of the functionality).

I'm sorry, but "always opens and looks the same" is not included in the 35-50% functionality. In either direction. I'm no lover of Office, but I do need to share and be shared with. Once a year I try out the alternatives, open all attachments from the last week, not once have had anywhere near what would be considered acceptable (this is a January exercise for me... one example with Open Office... text in normal body of Word document rendered with incorrect font-size, 24pt not 16pt).

Inter-suite fidelity is a key feature not supported by ANY alternatives.

 

[bpaluzzi]

Excel and Work, Office et-al are no more powerful than iWork. I've seen "Excel Power" users. Sorry, linking sheets together, and a few formulas isn't "Power"...

Heh heh, good one.

Oh wait. You were serious.

Numbers is a great program. I use it, because my spreadsheet usage is mainly organizing small sets of data -- more tables than spreadsheet usage.

But to say that it is ANYWHERE near Excel in terms of power is just foolish and, to put it squarely: absolutely wrong.

If you disagree, please tell me how to make a pivot table in Numbers. The lack of that function alone makes Numbers a laughable replacement for _REAL_ spreadsheet usage. OpenOffice has the "Data Pilot" functionality, but I haven't heard good reviews. Note: I've never used the OpenOffice version, so it is, admittedly, hearsay. I do know that OpenOffice -> Office formatting compatability is a crapshoot, at best.

 

[shervieux]

Well this is good news...

Let's hope that are smart like Apple and allow you to by each application separately I only need Word and Excel - but I need business license thanks to my freelance and non-profit work for my church (and occasionally when I must work on projects at home due to deadlines).

Also, they need to be more like they do on the Windows side. They need to offer home and student, home an business (for us who do not require professional, but yet due to licensing need it for occasional freelance and non-profit work. Licensing prevent you from using home and student for that [but I am sure many do]), and professional for those who need all the bells and whistles and every application.

Oh and Microsoft - since you consider the following products as part of the full office line; lets work on getting these to the mac as well:

ONENOTE - FIRST AND FOREMOST

Publisher - I know there are other and better products out their, but those switching from windows really site this as a needed product.

Visio - I like omnigraffle, but I ran into a few compatibility limitations.

Project - Many professionals say they need it, since most have compatibility issues using other products..

Access - Bento has its limitations and FileMaker is just too expensive and full blown for the average non-profit and small business. Access is nice for creating custom reports, custom forms, relating tables, ODBC into larger databases (MS SQL SERVER) and other access databases. At one company I wrote a whole helpdesk application in Access that included management reports and auto emailing open tickets to field techs every morning.


Since MS claims that more than half of their revenue comes from the sales of Office - I would say they would make a lot more money offering more products on the MAC and being able to buy each one separately as needed. I do not have the money to buy a Windows Office Professional up front (close to $500), and home and student is limited in products and licensing. I know I would probably spend more in the long run buying them separate - but that is easier on the wallet (due to sales tax, etc) than dropping $500 at one shot.

 

[Gemütlichkeit]

Never been a fan of their ribbon layout. I'm not going to force myself to use something so cumbersome when there are other alternatives out there which are better.

 

[Ubuntu]

Excel and Work, Office et-al are no more powerful than iWork. I've seen "Excel Power" users. Sorry, linking sheets together, and a few formulas isn't "Power"...

You really don't know what you're talking about. I was about to actually write up a counter argument but I realised that there is little chance of a sensible, mature discussion with you if you really think Office and iWork offer the same level of functionality and power.