It goes to show a lot about the situation in Microsoft that they didn't manage to ship this last year for Surface RT, where it might have done the platform a lot of good.
Microsoft launches Office for iPad
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Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#62Microsoft releases Office for iPad just looks like that Nintendo publishes Super Mario Bros on Xbox! So, are they going to discard Windows (|phone|tablet|...) platform and become a pure third-party? It reminds me of Sega.
At some point you have to decide whether the the perfect (everyone using Windows phones/tablets and MS Software) is the enemy of the good (a lot of people using MS Software). Microsoft has for whatever reason never hit the target with mobile platforms. I guess the Windows Phone is decent enough by some accounts but was just way too late to the party. So they can try to make money selling mobile software for a mobile…
It's that or gradually become more and more irrelevant to a very large segment of the computing market. I think there more to this than just 'accepting their fate' to never be a successful mobile devices company.
If their mobile software succeeds and becomes as near-essential as Office once was, that could well create a halo effect for their mobile platforms. After all if you use MS software every day on your phone or tablet, why not buy an MS phone or tablet next time you're in the market for one?
Their first order of business in mobile is to become relevant again. Today took their best shot at that in a very long time.
Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#63Microsoft releases Office for iPad just looks like that Nintendo publishes Super Mario Bros on Xbox! So, are they going to discard Windows (|phone|tablet|...) platform and become a pure third-party? It reminds me of Sega.
> Nintendo publishes Super Mario Bros on Xbox You have no idea how much i want this to happen...
Hmmm I'm waiting for this either.
REALLY HD SUPER MARIO!
Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#64This looks very well done. This is exciting. Honestly, I've almost entirely transitioned from Office to Google Docs. I could see this pulling me back in.
Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#65Microsoft releases Office for iPad just looks like that Nintendo publishes Super Mario Bros on Xbox! So, are they going to discard Windows (|phone|tablet|...) platform and become a pure third-party? It reminds me of Sega.
Office started its life on mac so its not unprecedented like a nintendo release for other platforms.
Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#66I wonder if they aren't a little late on this. I assume that I'm not the only one that found out I can get along just fine without Office on an iPad (or in my own personal case, get along just fine without Office at all). If the free Pages/Keynote/Numbers doesn't do it, I probably need a "real" computer anyway. That was always the real danger I saw for Microsoft as they delayed supporting iOS. Folks buy the devices a…
I think you're a little on the leading edge of this and, most importantly, it seems you don't use office heavily in your job.
Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#67MS is changing, and make no mistake, this has started with Ballmer. If you watch(ed) the press conf, it's quite apparent. App store for Android, Office for iPad, AD for Azure.. quite nice stuff, that's what we expect from a software giant: just release stuff for everything, everywhere, and make things be able to work with each other nicely. Good to see that, competition is always good for the users, and Apple, Google…
Unless you're Apple in which case everything is locked down to your platforms.
Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#68MS is changing, and make no mistake, this has started with Ballmer. If you watch(ed) the press conf, it's quite apparent. App store for Android, Office for iPad, AD for Azure.. quite nice stuff, that's what we expect from a software giant: just release stuff for everything, everywhere, and make things be able to work with each other nicely. Good to see that, competition is always good for the users, and Apple, Google…
It's not changing, expensive subscription for editing is the proof. Same greedy corporation which cares about its cash cows.
Is a starting price of $7/mo that egregious? That's around what I pay for my minimal Github account.
If you really use Office every day during the workday, it's worth the money. The $15/m that my company pays per user for our 365 account is well worth the money.
Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#69Before anybody thinks this is weird, or unusual. Microsoft has quite often been more pragmatic about the platform offerings for their office suite than elsewhere. After all, Office exists and has existed on Apple products for a very long time. It's more unusual that it hasn't been on the iProducts than anything.
I may be remembering wrong, but isn't the fact that Office existed on the Mac for so long also a result of the deal that Microsoft and Apple struck back in the 90's? Microsoft would keep making Office for the Mac and in exchange Apple would drop it's patent suit against them.
Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is this lame? If you only require viewing docs on the iPad you can do that for free. That's fantastic and most people will probably be satisfied with that. A subscription is only to edit and I believe gives you access to Office 365. For software you use daily a subscription shouldn't be a problem.
Subscriptions in general leave a bad taste in my mouth. What happened to just buying the software, and when you felt like upgrading (either because of compatibility issues, or needed functionality) then you can upgrade? Subscriptions definitely are a win for a business by ensuring income streams, but as a consumer I want to pay the company when I feel like buying something and not when they feel like they need money.
I think companies have been forced to turn to subscriptions. People aren't willing to pay $150 for office anymore. They probably wouldn't be willing to pay $40 on iPad. Software prices have been forced so low that subscriptions are the only way out.