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Microsoft launches Office for iPad

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Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#91
I'm wondering what would happen if, without paying for the office 365 subscription, I try to edit a document stored in the cloud. Will it open a Safari tab with the free office.com online Word/Excel/Powerpoint ?

In other words : Is there an "Open with Word Online" button for non office 365 subscribers?

Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#92
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That Microsoft is broadening where and how customers can use Office is interesting. But what's shocking is that the first tablet-optimized version of Office is arriving not on Windows RT, but on iOS. That speaks volumes about the state of Windows today – and about how Nadella is under no illusions. Office for iPad may have started under Ballmer, but it's hard to imagine it getting this high a priority without his suc…

You know that the RT versions of Microsoft Surface (and other RT tables) come with Office and have since they launched, right? https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/home-and-student/office-2...

But what is still missing is a Metro version of Office. Historically, Office has always been the showcase on how to build proper Windows applications, it's where UI innovations are first introduced: i.e. embedding, multiple document interface, icon bar, ribbon.

Since the introduction of the Metro ('modern') UI, Microsoft has not been able to really show the power and possibilities of it. Office for Metro should fix this, and show people how Metro is superior to the iOS and Android UI. Supposedly Office Metro has been in development for years (project Gemini), but as it turns out: it's not ready. And Office for iPad is.

I hope we'll hear more about office for Metro soon, maybe next week at Build?

Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#93
post #83

The pricing structure is interesting: Free to view, requires an expensive Office 365 subscription to edit. Seems like they're missing an opportunity to drive adoption of Office as an online platform. Why would I want to publish using Office instead of Google Docs when I can't assume that people I send the Office doc to will be able to edit it? Sure, Office is better, but not better enough to overcome that. If it was…

"If it was free to edit, but $$$ to publish, Office 365 would be much more compelling." 1. How many documents do you never share with anybody else? 2. The same model seems to work fine for Adobe Acrobat. Especially w.r.t #2: if they get the editor on many, and the viewer on a large fraction of devices, this might hurt PDF a bit.

I generally consider PDF to be a static document, something meant to freeze the current appearance and layout as part of making it a final draft.

Would I start to think this way about Word docs? Is that good for MS?

Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#95
post #8

I 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 agree with you. I think people have diversified. Office isn't going away, but their prolonged absence on other platforms opened some doors that they can't close again.

I've seen much more openness to other document formats across industries. It's a bit like BYOD in enterprise, but at the document level. For example, it's been 5 years since I've been at a conference that requires slides to be PPT.

They will probably always own the high end: advanced documents for the 20% of knowledge workers that need those features; custom Enterprise workflows, etc. But fewer and fewer people will ever require access to the Office Suite in any form.

Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#96
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would I want to publish using Office instead of Google Docs Because Google Docs continues to suck?

It does, but if I send someone a link to a Google doc (or, for that matter, an iWork doc), I know that they can edit it and send it back to me. No amount of non-suckiness can overcome that.

[deleted]

Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#97
post #28
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not changing, expensive subscription for editing is the proof. Same greedy corporation which cares about its cash cows.

Microsoft is a software company, and Office is one of their biggest products. Why would they make it free? While they do give out OneNote for free, it is not a major part of Office. Making Word, excel, and PowerPoint free would hurt them much more than it would help them.

The same reason a friendly drug dealer would offer a first hit free: to get you hooked.

Once you have a bunch of important documents locked up in Office file formats -- which Office is the only app guaranteed to be able to read reliably -- you have a great incentive down the road to start sending money to Microsoft so you can continue to access them.

Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#98
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't exactly call office 365 that expensive. It's $100/4yrs for students (university) and $100/yr for 5 users. That's hardly expensive. (Sure if you live alone it's more expensive, but you could probably just pair up with friends/family to split the cost)

But if I'm alone using it, that's not 5 users. That will be $100/yr for 1 user. And that appears to be expensive in general. A cracked version will come with editing capabilities, make no mistake. I'd gladly once pay a fair amount of money for a version with edit and without subscription.

A cracked version of an iOS app? You must be jailbroken. Most users are not.

Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#99
post #69
post #60

Before 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.

I think you're confusing the $150 million dollar 'loan', the settlement of the lawsuits, and Office, which is reasonable confusion based on how unclear the whole thing was.

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-202143.html

Re: Microsoft launches Office for iPad

#100
post #4

MS 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…

That Microsoft is broadening where and how customers can use Office is interesting. But what's shocking is that the first tablet-optimized version of Office is arriving not on Windows RT, but on iOS. That speaks volumes about the state of Windows today – and about how Nadella is under no illusions. Office for iPad may have started under Ballmer, but it's hard to imagine it getting this high a priority without his suc…

I think that it's a good strategy for Microsoft to make its software run on other platforms. This isn't the 1990s anymore where Windows is the dominant platform. It's not even the early 2000's with the "I'm a Mac vs. I'm a PC" meme. Now there are multiple popular platforms (at least in the consumer market), none with clear dominance, and meanwhile Microsoft's software only works on their own platform.

They have to compete now, and their software should sell on its own merits, not because of platform lock-in network effects. This will make Microsoft a better company with a higher quality product.

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