Apple By Ryan Whitwam Mar. 27, 2014 4:09 pm
Microsoft has just picked up a new CEO — long-time senior VP Satya Nadella*–*and his first big job as captain of the ship is to launch Microsoft’s Office apps on the iPad. This has been in the works for a long time — too long if you ask most iPad owners. Microsoft’s Office suite is the standard for business software, but the iPad is quickly becoming more desirable than PCs in some businesses. Rather than resist the change for another few years, Microsoft is moving forward and giving the people what they want.
There are now separate Word, Excel, and Powerpoint apps available for download in the App Store, for iPad only. The downloads themselves are completely free, but they only include read access to files. You can’t create anything new, nor can you edit existing docs without paying. To get access to the features you actually want, an Office 365 subscription is required. You can either purchase that from Microsoft directly, or via an in-app purchase for $99 per year. Apple would prefer that since its gets a 30% cut.
Most people subscribing to Office 365 from the new iPad apps are probably interested in the mobile experience, but it’s the same subscription you’d get from Microsoft. That means it includes 20GB of SkyDrive, all three mobile iPad apps, and Office installs on up to five PCs or Macs.
The apps themselves are remarkably full-featured and look very at home on the iPad. They fit in with the iOS 7 aesthetic, but they still place the tools and options in locations that make sense for long-time Office users. For example, the tabs bar across the top contain most of the same things you’d find in the ribbon interface on a desktop. It’s got formatting tools, tables, formulas, track changes, and various goodies specific to each app.
In addition to the new iPad apps, Microsoft is making the Android and iPhone versions of Office Mobile free for home use. They aren’t as full featured as the new iPad apps, but you no longer need Office 365 to access them.
More...
There are now separate Word, Excel, and Powerpoint apps available for download in the App Store, for iPad only. The downloads themselves are completely free, but they only include read access to files. You can’t create anything new, nor can you edit existing docs without paying. To get access to the features you actually want, an Office 365 subscription is required. You can either purchase that from Microsoft directly, or via an in-app purchase for $99 per year. Apple would prefer that since its gets a 30% cut.
Most people subscribing to Office 365 from the new iPad apps are probably interested in the mobile experience, but it’s the same subscription you’d get from Microsoft. That means it includes 20GB of SkyDrive, all three mobile iPad apps, and Office installs on up to five PCs or Macs.
The apps themselves are remarkably full-featured and look very at home on the iPad. They fit in with the iOS 7 aesthetic, but they still place the tools and options in locations that make sense for long-time Office users. For example, the tabs bar across the top contain most of the same things you’d find in the ribbon interface on a desktop. It’s got formatting tools, tables, formulas, track changes, and various goodies specific to each app.
In addition to the new iPad apps, Microsoft is making the Android and iPhone versions of Office Mobile free for home use. They aren’t as full featured as the new iPad apps, but you no longer need Office 365 to access them.
More...
