Is Microsoft Really Bringing Office Apps to iPad?
Given that Microsoft is working on ARM-based versions of its software, there's a good chance we'll see an Office app on Apple's iPad tablet installed next to Bing and MSN OnPoint.
There's a rumor that Microsoft is working to publish a version of its Office business suite on Apple's iPad platform. Naturally the company hasn't responded to the report, but the move could be valid given that Apple controls 80-percent of the tablet market.
For Microsoft, iPad support would mean millions of additional people worldwide using Office -- not to mention Microsoft Word -- on a portable non-x86 platform. In 2011, revenue generated from sales of the software suite is expected to reach over $15 billion, but that number has a potential to skyrocket next year if Microsoft releases a version for the Apple's tablet.
But given that Apple's A5 SoC powering the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S is based on ARM's v7 instruction set, there may be more to this story that just an iPad port of Office. We already know that the company is working on developing ARM-based versions of its software to be sold directly from the Windows Store. These will be Metro-styled, but Microsoft may also be tweaking a version to be visually more iOS friendly and sold through Apple's App Store.
Microsoft is also reportedly working on a new edition of Office for OS X Lion, slated to arrive next year via the Mac App Store. The current version of the desktop client, Office 2011, already supports Mac OS versions up to Snow Leopard. Microsoft is also actively working on Office 2012 for the Windows platform which is now in beta.
An Office iPad app wouldn't be the first Microsoft product on Apple's iOS platform. Apps currently available for the iPad include Bing, MSN Onit and MSN OnPoint. Additional apps are also available for the iPhone such as Microsoft Tag, Windows Live Messenger and Wonderwall. That said, publishing the company's Office suite on Apple's platform isn't exactly a far-fetched idea.
Pricing for the Office iPad app is expected to be around $10 -- a price point Apple has established for its own Pages, Numbers and Keynote products. It's also expected to appear in 2012, but there's a good chance it won't hit the market until ARM-based Windows 8 notebooks begin to hit store shelves.
- Report: Intel to Pay for $100 of Your New Ultrabook [UPD]
- Samsung Reveals 2 GHz Cortex-A15 Exynos 5250 Chip
- Official Details on 28nm Radeon HD 7000 Coming Dec. 5
- Battlefield 3 Banned in Iran Over Tehran Scenario
- EverQuest 2 Going Free-To-Play in Early December
- World of Warcraft: Hour of Twilight Update Now Live
- Lenovo Passes Dell as the World's No. 2 PC Maker
- PCI Express 4.0 to Support 16 Gigatransfers a Second
- Deals Nov 30: 27" Planar 2ms 1080p LCD Monitor $210
- Intel's Ivy Bridge vs. Sandy Bridge Benchmarks Leaked
- Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich Ported for x86 Systems
- Samsung Announces mSATA SSDs for Ultrabooks
- Google's Done It: Chrome Passes Firefox in Market Share
- Valve Launches Steam Daily Wishlist Games Giveaway
- The Mini-ITX Mainboard is 10 Years Old
- Intel Outgrows Samsung in Sluggish Semiconductor Market
- Acer President: Ultrabooks Will Cost $499 in 2013
- Ultrabooks to Rearrange Chip Requirements For Notebooks
Microsoft is a great software company.
:S
2003 - 2007 - 2010 - 2012... 2013.... 2013 June....... 2013 September...........?
I think I'm gonna stick with 2007 for a while.
I look forward to having Office on my iPad!!!
:S2003 - 2007 - 2010 - 2012... 2013.... 2013 June....... 2013 September...........? I think I'm gonna stick with 2007 for a while.
You have a point, but basically MS made a new Office for each OS. XP, Vista, 7 and now this one will be for Win8. Frequent OS release = frequent Office release. Not that it's a good thing, but the reason is clear, at least.
I look forward to having Office on my iPad!!!
A MS powerpoint on iPad can be very useful. I know there are always several ways to work around, but a MS powerpoint for iPad will make everything much easier, specially those business men who do not know much of computers.
:S2003 - 2007 - 2010 - 2012... 2013.... 2013 June....... 2013 September...........? I think I'm gonna stick with 2007 for a while.
I was running office 2000 up until docx and pptx started to become popular with university professors. Even then I got the converter but it doesn't work that great. I stopped installing Office 2000 on my main PC this year.
It would be bad business for MS not to provide Office for the OS 10.7 and iOS platforms. For each Apple device that replaces a Windows machine still gives MS the opportunity to capitalize by providing consumer/business applications.
I guess it depends on how many Windows 8 tablets they want to sell. If there's no exclusive MS Office on their OS it'll be a big selling point gone.
"For Microsoft, iPad support would mean millions of additional people worldwide using Office" I find it hard to believe that the people who own iPads don't already use Microsoft office on other devices.
Yes, it could increase sales of Office, but I doubt you'd see new customers.
"For Microsoft, iPad support would mean millions of additional people worldwide using Office" I find it hard to believe that the people who own iPads don't already use Microsoft office on other devices.Yes, it could increase sales of Office, but I doubt you'd see new customers.
That depends. People who use Office at work don't necessarily use it at home. If these people were to buy it for an iPad, they would technically be "new customers".
A MS powerpoint on iPad can be very useful. I know there are always several ways to work around, but a MS powerpoint for iPad will make everything much easier, specially those business men who do not know much of computers.
Just what we need - portable death by PowerPoint.
how on earth would that be the slightest bit useful? an ipad will never, ever replace a desktop.
how on earth would that be the slightest bit useful? an ipad will never, ever replace a desktop.
How would that NOT be useful? If I could take notes in a meeting and email them out without having to worry about re-typing them off my paper that would save me plenty of time. If I could present without having to drag my laptop around that would be great. If I could work on budget sheets while in a meeting and share them with everyone on a projector, I would totally do that.
I don't currently have an iPad, but if Office was release on an iPad I would seriously think about buying one. I don't think the iPad is trying to replace the desktop at all. But it could replace my (and many other people's) laptop. On my desktop I do a billion things with various programs. On my laptop I do Office, email, and the internet. If the iPad had Office, it could easily become my laptop replacement.
To be fair, the iPad wouldn't be an all-in-one laptop replacement for everyone, but for me it could be.
so the office app is expected to cost $10?
I wish I could buy office on my PC for $10
Well this is going to be the next step in the work environment, its actually a great idea!
How would that NOT be useful? If I could take notes in a meeting and email them out without having to worry about re-typing them off my paper that would save me plenty of time. If I could present without having to drag my laptop around that would be great. If I could work on budget sheets while in a meeting and share them with everyone on a projector, I would totally do that.
I don't currently have an iPad, but if Office was release on an iPad I would seriously think about buying one. I don't think the iPad is trying to replace the desktop at all. But it could replace my (and many other people's) laptop. On my desktop I do a billion things with various programs. On my laptop I do Office, email, and the internet. If the iPad had Office, it could easily become my laptop replacement.
To be fair, the iPad wouldn't be an all-in-one laptop replacement for everyone, but for me it could be.
been doing exactly that for 8 yrs now on an IBM X41 tablet, it's still twice the machine a "modern"
tablet is. One Note is the bomb on it....
Sorry, but the rumours are too numerous to count here.
What I predict is a compatible Office Web App version that works on the iPad. Microsoft isn't going to cannabalize sales of their desktop apps that have greater functionality and a higher price. They also don't want to pre-cannabalize sales of Windows 8 tablets by offering features early on the competition's tablets. Any prediction over a minimal secondary application is just the usual truthiness of the blogosphere.
That's stupid do like apple keep available on your own tablet windows 8. Why create it for apple?
Maybe it would be useful with a portable keyboard, but I don't know too many people that would want to type anything of great length on a tablet. Viewing/light editing of Office docs would be nice though but it seems like Office 356 would work for that and be less expensive in a corporate environment.
Maybe this'll help drop the price of Microsoft Office on Windows!
It'd be nice if they released it on the iPhone at the very least.
Powerpoint on iPad would be pointless as the iPad has no hdmi (mini/micro) or vga outputs that I am aware of... can't really see that small screen being remotely useful for presenting to a room full of people....
DONT DO IT!!!
Wait for Windows 8 tablets and push it as the tablet for business, eventually iToy business users will switch camps
If you give the iPad access to Office there will be no reason for business to switch
DONT DO IT!!!Wait for Windows 8 tablets and push it as the tablet for business, eventually iToy business users will switch campsIf you give the iPad access to Office there will be no reason for business to switch
Unlike you, MS is a business and they will (in most cases) not cut off their nose to spite their face. They will do whatever it takes to make $$$ and right now tar targeting iPad users is a good way to make $$$.
Unlike you, MS is a business and they will (in most cases) not cut off their nose to spite their face. They will do whatever it takes to make $$$ and right now tar targeting iPad users is a good way to make $$$.
MS doesn't need the money that badly in the short term and giving Office to iPad users will hurt them more long term as there will be no incentive to buy a Windows tablet.
MS needs to go back to playing the long game.
MS doesn't need the money that badly in the short term and giving Office to iPad users will hurt them more long term as there will be no incentive to buy a Windows tablet.MS needs to go back to playing the long game.
Thank the gods someone else understands why this is such a bad idea! One of the reasons I was really drawn to WP7.5 is it's truly unique ability to edit and create real Word docs and Excel spreadsheets.
If the iPad could do this, the only incentive for users to buy a Win8 tablet over iOS would be the Metro UI... I love the Metro UI, but as far as I can tell with everyone else, it's pretty hit or miss.
I'm sticking to Office 2000. Office 2010 and on is just too cluttered for me.
Microsoft is a great software company.
Troll.
Blah Blah, Open Office serves me just fine and Apple can keep their i-Tampon.
been doing exactly that for 8 yrs now on an IBM X41 tablet, it's still twice the machine a "modern"tablet is. One Note is the bomb on it....
Cut the crap. Do you think nobody else here has used any of the older tablet PC's? The original x41 is a POS compared to a new iPad. Clutzy, heavy, slow, and poor response with lousy touch gestures.
Powerpoint on iPad would be pointless as the iPad has no hdmi (mini/micro) or vga outputs that I am aware of... can't really see that small screen being remotely useful for presenting to a room full of people....
Apples makes a VGA adapter that iPad's can use to output to a projector. We do that for training.
Well they have Office for Mac so I guess no reason to stop there and I could see them releasing thier software on the iPad as well.
With MS Office (from a business use perspective) there is a lot of customer code and integration development that occurs on a Windows platform. It isn't obvious to me (without a backend server) how cross iOS App API's could bring that ease of customization and cross software integration to the consumer. I'm evening thinking from the perspective of a downstream ISV where the Office package might be a prerequisite for another larger piece of Enterprise software.
Any thoughts on this? Has it already been tackled for other iOS apps?