MS Office 2011 iPad Ed, $49.95? Any Interest?

[RedStorm]

Does anyone else think that there would be interest in this?

I can't be the only person that operates in a Windows-centric (with some Linux dabbling.. ) world whose 1st Apple experience is the iPad. Flawless Office compatibility would be a killer feature for this user base (Right now, I've purchased Quick Office on sale as a stop gap - hope it's a good app).

I know that the iPad is more geared for viewing the finished product ("consumption") rather than production - but being able to make edits in a pinch with nothing more than the iPad would be amazing.

I know MS wants to enter the tablet market in 2012 (or whenever), but it's missing out big time here (numbers don't lie...) and I think that MS Office would sell for $50 easy for those of us who depend on it.

Thoughts?

 

[Stirolak123]

Get iworks pages. Its flaweless. I cant believe i even used word after how easy it is to sue templates and less frustrating. It will open you to a whole new world, the apple world.

 

[Ironworker808]

You already can.

From Apple.com...

With Keynote on iPad, you can open Keynote and Microsoft PowerPoint files. And it works the other way around, too. The presentations you create in Keynote on your iPad can be sent as Keynote files, PowerPoint files, or PDF documents. That way, whether you use a Mac or PC, you always have the flexibility to work with the files you need right from your iPad.

With Pages on iPad, you can open Pages and Microsoft Word files. And it works the other way around, too. The documents you create in Pages on your iPad can be sent as Pages files, Word files, or PDF documents. That way, whether you use a Mac or PC, you always have the flexibility to view and edit the files you need right from your iPad.

With Numbers on iPad, you can open Numbers and Microsoft Excel files. It works the other way around, too. The spreadsheets you create in Numbers on your iPad can be sent as Numbers files, Excel files, or PDF documents. That way, whether you use a Mac or PC, you always have the flexibility to view and edit the spreadsheets you need right from your iPad.

Total cost...$30.

 

[RedStorm]

Get iworks pages. Its flaweless. I cant believe i even used word after how easy it is to sue templates and less frustrating. It will open you to a whole new world, the apple world.

I'll admit pages looks very nice and I considered it. But I deal far too much with the various .docx etc formats and I hear that compatibility with them is limited - formatting can be quirky and no saving to .docx etc.

it's just one of those realities of a windows-centric work environment unfortunately.

 

[Krandor]

I'll admit pages looks very nice and I considered it. But I deal far too much with the various .docx etc formats and I hear that compatibility with them is limited - formatting can be quirky and no saving to .docx etc.

it's just one of those realities of a windows-centric work environment unfortunately.

Micosoft just recently released One Note for iOS so hopefully that is a sign that they may bring other office applications over to iOS in the future.

 

[v66jack]

After using iWork on the mac (and im not that impressed with it) I don't really want to buy it on the iPad aswell. iWork just isn't that compatible with MS which is where all my other docs are. Office 2011 for mac is very good, I'd love a iPad app which was just as good.

 

[YsoSerious]

Get iworks pages. Its flaweless. I cant believe i even used word after how easy it is to sue templates and less frustrating. It will open you to a whole new world, the apple world.

Pages is garbage next to MS Word. The office suite is still king in the business world.

 

[sinsin07]

Another misleading thread title. You should change your thread title, question mark perhaps?

 

[deadwalrus]

Get iworks pages. Its flaweless. I cant believe i even used word after how easy it is to sue templates and less frustrating. It will open you to a whole new world, the apple world.

For those of us who depend on Word at a professional level, pages is hopelessly inadequate. Try reviewing a document with proposed changes (visible via track changes). Or, just try looking at a doc with some footnotes. Either will show you it is not up to snuff. Not to mention the lack of a filesystem, making sharing documents between apps extremely difficult, if not impossible.

I foresee business-centric changes with iOS 5.0. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

 

[RedStorm]

Right now, as I said, I'm just going to use Quick Office as a stop gap for personal use.

In a work environment, flawless Office formating support can be critical. Other programs may do a fine for personal use - a quirk here, something breaking there - you can live with it or work around it.

Importing one format (for example, in .docx) and having everything preserved during that import (and not just it "looks ok" to you but rather 100% correctly imported so that hidden errors don't compound and rear their ugly heads several steps down the line).

Then correctly talk to the format while you edit it (again, avoiding compounding errors).

Then having to save it to another format (say, .doc) and have it do a conversion correctly b/c the program doesn't support saving in that format it can supposedly read...there are a lot of places for a headache to occur.

Now, again, most of this doesn't matter for general light use. iWorks I'm sure is a great program, does a darn fine job most of the time and everything is generally groovy gravy baby. But sometimes you really want the assurance that MS Office can provide with its own file formats.

It's not about who is better than whom (or what program), just a reality of the dominance of MS Office in certain areas - and given the early dominance of the iPad in the tablet world it would be nice to have these two line up a bit better.

 

[RedStorm]

Another misleading thread title. You should change your thread title, question mark perhaps?

Done - is it better?

 

[vrDrew]

Its a good idea, and Microsoft would probably quickly find themselves at the top of the Paid App Charts if they released it. I'm pretty sure quite a few of those 20 million iPads are being used by serious businesspeople.

And its not as if Microsoft doesn't have the people who could make it happen. Or that Apple would stand in their way. But somehow I don't see it happening.

Releasing an iPad-specific Office Suite would reveal some pretty glaring cracks in Microsoft's corporate philosophy, going back to the cornerstone of their finances and business model. Not the least of which is the question of why every office worker in the world needs a $280 word processor and spreadsheet that needs to be replaced every three years. Start offering people a MS-branded $50 suite that does 99.995% of what most worker drones will ever need - and those all those dudes down in MIS are going to have to explain just what they've been spending the corporate coin on.

Secondly, I suspect that somewhere deep in Balmerworld exists a hidden belief that a slew of devices running Microsoft Windows for Tablets® is going to burst upon the scene sometime in late 2013 and wake Redmond up from the post-pc nightmare it currently is slumbering through. And holding out a Microsoft Office suite as an exclusive for such devices may well be a trump card in their demented dreams.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

$49 - Nope. I don't see it happening. It would dilute the perception of Office as an expensive professional suite. Apple can sell iWorks cheaply b/c it's s/w meant to sell h/w.

 

[CristobalHuet]

Pages is garbage next to MS Word. The office suite is still king in the business world.

Is this a joke? I refuse to use anything but Pages when it comes to word processing. Apple's iWork suite is far more intuitive than Office. I don't care if it's the king of the business world, so is Windows, doesn't make it better.

I wonder what the next version of Office will bring, a redesigned ribbon menu and 15 extra templates for 79.99, perhaps?

 

[Stirolak123]

For those of us who depend on Word at a professional level, pages is hopelessly inadequate. Try reviewing a document with proposed changes (visible via track changes). Or, just try looking at a doc with some footnotes. Either will show you it is not up to snuff. Not to mention the lack of a filesystem, making sharing documents between apps extremely difficult, if not impossible.

I foresee business-centric changes with iOS 5.0. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

But what about students or those who want to send cover letters to employers. How else can they do it and make it look as good as the letter temlate with all the dolors and suchn on iworks? How do you design your own teplates like that in MS Word? And even if you do I bet its really time consuming and still probably wont look as good. So for certain uses like business ketters iworks is better.

Andnwhy do you need to track changes and all that? Businesses got along fine a few decades back even with pen and pencil why is all that extra crap necessary?

 

[Cartaphilus]

I do use iWorks on the iPad, but like the OP I recognize its compatibility limitations, and, unless you have a private secretary to reconcile the formatting when necessary, Office for iPad could be a godsend. I'd be equally as happy if the import/export function of Pages flawless worked with all Word formats.

I also agree that as much as I use and appreciate my iPad, it isn't natively as productive as my MBP. I will suggest, though, that getting a Bluetooth keyboard ($69 at the Apple Store) and using it with the iPad in a cover that converts to a stand makes a huge difference. On trips when I don't want to carry the MBP I find that the iPad and a keyboard give me 80% to 90% of the productivity that the MBP provides, which in many cases is an acceptable trade-off for me.

 

[jbg232]

I really don't like flaming but some of the posts on this forum are just completely ignorant to the real world.

All professionals use Microsoft Office because it is THE de facto standard in the business world. It is an absolute joke to send a business contact something made in pages->converted to word and hope that it formats correctly (same for excel and especially powerpoint!). I could list the billions of incompatibilities but most are intuitive - all formatting that is done to a document has to be interpreted correctly on the other end. There are thousands of things that can and will be misinterpreted. iWork is GREAT for personal use, TERRIBLE for professional use. It doesn't support all the many things professionals need - professional endnote applications, scripts, reviewing, collaboration over a network, the list goes on......

Bottom line, professionals use office because it is the standard and it performs its job better than anything else at this time. While I love apple, iwork is terribly inadequate at this point both because of its own inherent weaknesses, but more importantly, because it is not supported by many specialty office add-ins that professionals use.

To the OP: I would LOVE office for iPad to finally view powerpoints correctly on an iPad.

 

[YsoSerious]

i really don't like flaming but some of the posts on this forum are just completely ignorant to the real world.

All professionals use microsoft office because it is the de facto standard in the business world. It is an absolute joke to send a business contact something made in pages->converted to word and hope that it formats correctly (same for excel and especially powerpoint!). I could list the billions of incompatibilities but most are intuitive - all formatting that is done to a document has to be interpreted correctly on the other end. There are thousands of things that can and will be misinterpreted. Iwork is great for personal use, terrible for professional use. It doesn't support all the many things professionals need - professional endnote applications, scripts, reviewing, collaboration over a network, the list goes on......

Bottom line, professionals use office because it is the standard and it performs its job better than anything else at this time. While i love apple, iwork is terribly inadequate at this point both because of its own inherent weaknesses, but more importantly, because it is not supported by many specialty office add-ins that professionals use.

To the op: I would love office for ipad to finally view powerpoints correctly on an ipad.

agree!!!

 

[deadwalrus]

But what about students or those who want to send cover letters to employers. How else can they do it and make it look as good as the lettertemlate with all the dolors and suxhnon iworks? How do you design your own teplates like that in MS Word? And even if you do I bet its really time consuming and still probably wont look as good. So for certain uses like business ketters iworks is better.

MS Word has plenty of templates. If you are used to pages, that's fine.

Andnwhy do you need to traxk xhanges and all that? Businesses got along fine a few decades baxk even with pen and pencil why is all that extra crap necessary?

Try reviewing a 60 page settlement agreement with proposed changed marked up by opposing counsel, then you will see the value of track changes. Footnotes also are used widely, in Court opinions and motions, among other things.

Granted, if all you need word processing software for is typing up your resume to send to The Hut for a delivery job, then pages will undoubtedly suffice.

Arguing against what the business world actually requires is misguided. The fact is, professionals -- many of whom are in their 50s -- are not going to all-of-a-sudden switch to Apple's pages because you think it's adequate. They will continue using Word, and I will continue to have to view documents created in word.

 

[deadwalrus]

I really don't like flaming but some of the posts on this forum are just completely ignorant to the real world.

All professionals use Microsoft Office because it is THE de facto standard in the business world. It is an absolute joke to send a business contact something made in pages->converted to word and hope that it formats correctly (same for excel and especially powerpoint!). I could list the billions of incompatibilities but most are intuitive - all formatting that is done to a document has to be interpreted correctly on the other end. There are thousands of things that can and will be misinterpreted. iWork is GREAT for personal use, TERRIBLE for professional use. It doesn't support all the many things professionals need - professional endnote applications, scripts, reviewing, collaboration over a network, the list goes on......

Bottom line, professionals use office because it is the standard and it performs its job better than anything else at this time. While I love apple, iwork is terribly inadequate at this point both because of its own inherent weaknesses, but more importantly, because it is not supported by many specialty office add-ins that professionals use.

To the OP: I would LOVE office for iPad to finally view powerpoints correctly on an iPad.

Bingo.

If all business used pages, then pages on the iPad would probably be fine. They don't, and no one is going to send out an amateurish pages-created document to a client.

 

[deadwalrus]

Is this a joke? I refuse to use anything but Pages when it comes to word processing. Apple's iWork suite is far more intuitive than Office. I don't care if it's the king of the business world, so is Windows, doesn't make it better.

I wonder what the next version of Office will bring, a redesigned ribbon menu and 15 extra templates for 79.99, perhaps?

Good for you. Let me know how that works out when/if you get a job that requires you to look professional.

But seriously, if pages worked for what I need to do I would use it. But it doesn't, so I don't.

 

[Stirolak123]

I really don't like flaming but some of the posts on this forum are just completely ignorant to the real world.

All professionals use Microsoft Office because it is THE de facto standard in the business world. It is an absolute joke to send a business contact something made in pages->converted to word and hope that it formats correctly (same for excel and especially powerpoint!). I could list the billions of incompatibilities but most are intuitive - all formatting that is done to a document has to be interpreted correctly on the other end. There are thousands of things that can and will be misinterpreted. iWork is GREAT for personal use, TERRIBLE for professional use. It doesn't support all the many things professionals need - professional endnote applications, scripts, reviewing, collaboration over a network, the list goes on......

Bottom line, professionals use office because it is the standard and it performs its job better than anything else at this time. While I love apple, iwork is terribly inadequate at this point both because of its own inherent weaknesses, but more importantly, because it is not supported by many specialty office add-ins that professionals use.

To the OP: I would LOVE office for iPad to finally view powerpoints correctly on an iPad.

Ok the conversion may suck but I wasnt talking about that, I was talking about the optionsf for students turning papers in, people making cover letters and resumes, writers, etx. Basically 90% of the population including most business users. Outside the smakl perdent like you mentioned lawyers or maybe court reports that have to be super technical and track everything, it seems you can do everything on iworks and even easier without doing it all yourself because you have templates to guide you.

You can align, do word count, spell check, tabs, etc. Most students only need spell check heh.

 

[Mattstkc]

I'll admit pages looks very nice and I considered it. But I deal far too much with the various .docx etc formats and I hear that compatibility with them is limited - formatting can be quirky and no saving to .docx etc.

it's just one of those realities of a windows-centric work environment unfortunately.

I hate that people are even using docx, microsoft's not so subtle "you should upgrade" bs file format change

 

[WMuntean]

Is this a joke? I refuse to use anything but Pages when it comes to word processing. Apple's iWork suite is far more intuitive than Office. I don't care if it's the king of the business world, so is Windows, doesn't make it better.

I wonder what the next version of Office will bring, a redesigned ribbon menu and 15 extra templates for 79.99, perhaps?

Haha. Jokes aside, you make some good points but Pages really is inadequate for creating professional content. It's really good for writing a simple college term paper, sure, but so is text edit with rich formatting.

As this previous post (below) shows, Pages is missing key features that content creators need. Try viewing content from an editor (track changes) in Pages, not gonna work. Goodbye collaborative work...

For those of us who depend on Word at a professional level, pages is hopelessly inadequate. Try reviewing a document with proposed changes (visible via track changes). Or, just try looking at a doc with some footnotes. Either will show you it is not up to snuff. Not to mention the lack of a filesystem, making sharing documents between apps extremely difficult, if not impossible.

 

[fertilized-egg]

They don't, and no one is going to send out an amateurish pages-created document to a client.

I absolutely agree that MS Office is a MUST for any professional environment, but really, I've seen so many amateurish-looking documents created in any word processor or even Illustrator. The choice of word processor usually has very little bearing in the layout quality of the document. Where MS Word really shines is the file compatibility, management of long documents, and collaboration tools for editing and comments.