Office for iPad: Yes or No?

I guess the answer depends on whether Microsoft can decide if its a software company (as it has been) or whether it really wants to go head to head with Apple in its future as a device maker.....

Interesting to see which way they go.

Yes... Office for iPad would expose the 1 major flaw of the iPad, it's a consumption device. MS's tablet strategy has been to make the tablet more productive, with touch keyboards, mouse pointer support, and simultaneous onscreen multitasking.

Not supporting the iPad means MS is leaving the platform open for another productivity suite to florish. Bringing Office to iPad brings in another customer into their ecosystem and could be a potential switch to an MS Windows platform in the future.

I understand they are a software company first (at least today), but this would be a HUGE mistake. I'm a MS fan and would prefer a Win8 tablet (Surface Pro) over an iPad any day of the week, but the numbers thus far prove that I am the minority. If MS offers their best in class Office solution on the major player in the mobile space, why would anyone choose a Win8 tablet over iPad? Crazy. Don't do it, MS!!

I suppose it's just an academic argument, since it's going to happen anyway. "Should" it? Boy, I agree, that's a tough one.

I'm curious, though, a month or maybe two ago you wrote about how Apple was blocking this exact thing because their store rules forbade circumventing paying Apple. Has that situation changed?

I'd say yes. Even if Windows tablets have to take a loss, I'm not so certain MS can afford a large pool users migrate to a competing product.

They can always entice users back to their OS platform, but I think this is much harder when those users move away from some of their other offerings that are big within their overall ecosystem.

As a Windows fanboy I say no. We have already lost our exclusive Xbox live games with MS starting to make games for iOS with achievements. If they make Office for iPad that is just one more exclusive item we are losing in our ecosystem.

As a MS stock holder I say YES as I do see a lot of value in releasing Office for the iPad. If millions of iPad users sign up for 100 dollar a year subscription that will be nice for our bottom line.

Wouldn't mind some version of 'real' Office on my iPad. I already have a KIRF, which has come in handy occaisionally. I still would find Office on RT more usable as I can have Excel, IE, and PowerPoint all open and visible (with a little effort). Would be a shame if Office 365 on iPad had Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher, Access and Outlook and my Surface RT was stuck with only the first four.

Yes! A thousands of times, yes!

Hopefully, the Office team will once again shine. (I hope Microsoft does not assign the old Live Essentials team or Expression team to this job.)

Not doing so will ultimately prompt people to use Google Docs/like services, and people have demonstrated their will to do so as if it were a full alternative to Office. In fact, that would also lead to a decline of Windows/RT, except without the money coming in from Office 365.

Doing so will definitely keep current iPad users away from a full Windows machine, and for others, have them choose an iPad over Windows, fair enough. But at least there's revenue coming to Microsoft as a result.

That said, there will still be millions of students entering university/college every year, and I can't see many of them (e.g. economics, science, business, engineering, etc) rely on anything but a Windows machine. With more mobile-oriented Windows devices, the enterprise market may have less incentive to consider iPad/Android devices.

The loss of average consumers might be tough for Microsoft, but it may be the incentive needed to now invest/push their online services more aggressively. They'll need new revenue streams in a non-Windows dominated world, what better than to see Xbox, Outlook, Skype, Office, etc. out-do their competition in quality and performance?

iPad One only had 256MB memory and a single core A4 processor. iPad 2 had 512MB memory and a dual core A5 processor.

I don't see how MS Office 2013, which "requires" 1GB for 32 bit systems, runs with acceptable performance on iPads 1 and 2 (and maybe even 3).

It's also going to chew up 3 Gig of storage on 16GB iPads.

YES. Why not? Windows cannot depend on Office. They are separate products. Window's popularity does not depend on Office. Either advance Office or eventually, people will find an alternative to Office and that will truly SUCK.

Think of an alternative scenario. What if Office turns out to be the halo product that eventually returns customers to Windows 8.

It is clear that Windows 8 tablets have Office has its selling point. Unfortunately, most people have yawned at the prospect. Windows RT have not sold well in the marketplace. Windows 8 tablets could also have a slow start.

What they can do with Office is have a more tailored experience to distinguish the differences between Office on iPad and Office on Windows 8. I do think Office 365 subscriptions is a good compromise as that is the truth. Windows 8 will have a better version of Office and sometimes people will make a decision to buy the better version or more complete version.

Since I'm no longer in school, I barely touch Office at home. I can certainly take advantage of a cheap home version when I'm using my iPad. There is a market for people like me who still like using Office and Windows (with a Windows Desktop) and also have an iPad and iPhone for consuming media.

Microsoft just need to start marketing their tablets properly to expose the many benefits of a Windows 8 tablet (even an Atom powered one, such as the ThinkPad Tablet 2) over the iPad but that's probably not going to happen until Blue gets released and hopefully brings with it a host of improvements so Windows 8 (but especially RT) becomes a viable alternative to more consumer friendly offerings from Apple and Android.

They absolutely need to get Office on everything though, more customers, more subscriptions, more money, more users in the ecosystem.

Through Office apps new users will be introduced to SkyDrive and from there they've got a gateway to the Microsoft ecosystem.

I think Xbox Music/Video should also be available on all platforms. I don't see any reason not to even if it does harm Windows somewhat.

Microsoft still has functional gaps in Windows 8 and Windows Phone compared to both Android and iOS and I can't think of anyone I know who's going to dump their iPhones for Office and Xbox Music even though they think it's great that I have it on my phone. They're missing out on loads of new users.

I'm going to the Bett education technology event in London tomorrow, I'm looking forward to seeing what Microsoft have on show as getting Windows tablets and Office into schools should be their next big push. If the next generation of kids get brought up using iPads at school rather than Windows then the "war" is already lost.

What Microsoft really needs to do is implement a Metro version of Office to show users and especially developers that the new platform can handle more than just basic consumption apps.

I think they should release it on competing tablets if they are serious about pushing Office as a service. It will be very interesting to see what percentage of the desktop features make it into these tablet versions.

I also really hope Microsoft releases on Android at the same time as the iPad version. Until then I will keep using Google Docs.

I am running Windows 8 and Office 2013 (via HUP) already on my Desktops. I also just bought an iPad 4.

Seems like I will have to buy the Apple App Numbers if I want to view and edit spreadsheets on the iPad.

The least Microsoft could do is offer a cheap Office viewer App for people not on subscriptions.

Has the 30% cut issue really been resolved? I thought Apple wanted to apply it to subscriptions as well.

It is a tough question, and honestly, as an IT guy, it's even harder on my ego. The only thing keeping Apple products, in general, forced out of my organization is the cost and manageability... the hardware costs are too high, and the software re-licensing is too high.

But if a user can get Office 365 Professional for themselves or at the same amount (roughly) as they pay for Office Professional, and run it on multiple devices... I lose my defenses.

I think I will literally have to early retire from IT or at least take a job where I never have to do end-user support if Apple is to continue their gains in business. I am so biased against the company at this point that I know I can't change my viewpoints.

"The Windows 8 Battle Moves from Software to Devices" said Paul... That's the key IMHO: Microsoft, as an OS Company is moving to Devices, but Microsoft, as a Software Company should protect their leading position in the Office suite area.
Apple with iWorks was just hedging the possibility of not having an "Office" for their devices --I don't believe they have much interest beyond that! Would it be a smart move for Google to limit their "Docs" offer to Chromebooks only to push the sales?Surface could fail despite Office (I hope not!). Microsoft devices, and partner devices have to be successful as Devices, not as a "Office Suite" vehicles. So yes, Microsoft should offer Office on iPads, iPhones, and Androids... And even a knock-down version of Office for the iPad is not a good idea: somebody someday is going to release an office-clone tailored to the iPad environment that's going to be great for 99.9% of the iPad users... better if it is called Microsoft, no?

Tough question. But I think that Microsoft may as well cash in.

Apple users are not interested in Windows, even if it does have 100x the software. As the resident geek, people frequently ask me, "I'm thinking of getting a MacBook. What do you think?" When I point out that OS X is a niche market, and that there are comparatively few programs for it, they look at me blankly. They just don't care. So Microsoft may as sell Office to them, and retain some sort of mindshare.

Steve Ballmer said it himself on the Office blog
"Transforming from a software-maker to a devices and services company requires us to make big, bold bets and push our business in new directions" http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2013/01/29/office-365-...

I think this is inevitable and Microsoft should push on with it. As you say, to get office on an iPad you need to purchase the Office365 subscription, whereas, if I buy a SurfaceRT I get Office included. I think this will be a benefit for existing iPad owners, not a detriment to new customers

This is a really tricky one. Maybe Microsoft should do a light version for iOS. That way they can make money while promoting Office and the advantages of an actual Windows device.

I don't understand this issue : Office IS NOT READY for iPad. Heck it's not even a 'Metro'...umm.errrr.....'Windows 8 style' App, It's still a desktop app with tiny little menus and icons - it's not ideal on a Microsoft designed tablet, so how is it going operate and function on a device like iPad that's not designed to be used with a Keyboard and mouse? It's going to be almost unusable on an iPad let alone an iPad mini !

Until Microsoft makes a tablet friendly version of office - you have nothing to worry about - because iPad users will ignore it in favor of cheaper and easier to use alternatives.

I really think Apple is going to save Microsoft from itself on this one. The ONLY way Office on iOS makes sense for Microsoft is as part of an Office 365 subscription, and there is no way Apple is going to let them sidestep the App Store and Apple's 30% cut. So unless Microsoft wants to lead the charge to jailbreak iPads, "No Office for you!"