Microsoft no longer bothering to deny Office on iPad
Summary: More references (and non-denials) of the existence of Microsoft's Office Mobile for iPad have surfaced in the past few days.
Microsoft officials have stopped bothering to deny that there will be some kind of Office support on the iPad. But the Softies still aren't sharing when this support will arrive or in what form.
Reports that Microsoft was developing Office for iPad began circulating, courtesy of The Daily, earlier this year. Reporters at The Daily claimed a Microsoft representative demonstrated privately to them Word, Excel and PowerPoint running on the iPad. Microsoft officials, at that time, tried to throw cold water on The Daily's claims.
In subsequent appearances, Microsoft officials danced around questions as to when and whether Microsoft would deliver Office for iPad.
The latest non-answer to the "when is Office coming to iPad" question came last week from Bill Koefoed, who is now the Chief Financial Officer of the Skype unit at Microsoft. Speaking at the December 4 NAS DAQ OMX Investor Program, this was Koefoed's reponse to a queestion about how Microsoft is thinking time- and unit-continuum-wise about moving Office to the iPad:
BILL KOEFOED: There are some of the Office services that are available on the iPad. We have OneNote available on the iPad. I know we have Lync available on the iPad. And so as you look, we obviously think that Office is a differentiator on the Surface and you should obviously watch the Office momentum that we have with the Office 2013 release, and they'll have more to say on the products and how it lights up the different devices. (Emphasis mine)
As first noticed by bloggers over at the Mac4ever site, there also are references popping up in Microsoft's support pages to Office Mobile apps for the iPad. Again, there are no specifics as to specific capabilities, pricing or packaging. But based on recent leaks, it could be the case that Office Mobile for iPad and Android, as well, will require an Office 365 subscription.
Among the rumored release dates for Office Mobile for iPad are "early 2013" (The Verge) and May 2013 (various reseller and other sources).
Again, if you think of Microsoft's new desire to be a "devices and services" company, a subscription-based offer of Office on non-Microsoft devices makes sense....
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Talkback
Cross-platform is the way to develop
The more things change...
Original Flash (before Adobe) was light weight
Today's Flash is nothing more than INSECURE bloatware used primarily for two things:
- Spyware
- Power hog media player
Very few websites are using Flash for what it was designed for.
Re: Cross-platform is the way to develop
Remember how Windows NT itself was supposed to be a cross-platform OS? Look what a big flop that was. Meanwhile, Linux runs on over 2 dozen major processor architectures--more than any other OS in history.
Perhaps it makes sense but ....
No Office for iPad (and eventually Android) -> potentially big loss of Office market share, and ultimately loss of Windows market share.
Sell Office for iPad (and eventually Android) -> potentially big loss of market share for Windows and ultimately a loss of market share for Office also.
It is tough making decisions when caught between a rock and a hard place.
It never hurt them before
The Mac was never a threat
Now Apple (and Android) may be threatening MS's very existence.
Hardly the same circumstances - not even close.
Indeed
The problem with that game is that the "legitimate" alternative isn't guaranteed to remain non-threatening (as the leaders of Mexico's PRI discovered just over a dozen years ago).
RE: The Mac was never a threat
One thing for sure I don't think Apple would ever come into any small or corporate offices. Why, because would you really spend over $2,000 on two workstations if you were to start a business? Would a corporate business want to switch over their Windows servers to go over a Apple server??? Do you think that any IT department would ever want to go through the nightmare of switching over to MAC? Would a corporate/small business company want to spends hours/money training people on how to use a computer or have their IT department spend hours/$$$$ on operating a new server?
It is a good thing that only technical or some technical background people read these type of websites. Because it is a JOKE to compare a portable OS with an actual OS.
Microsoft is becoming irrelevant
Move to the cloud.
From the small businesses perspective
Small business
I started my law office in 2006 and currently in addition to (attorney) I have two paralegals, two legal secretaries and a manager. With the exception of a Windows Small Business Server (we use Exchange for email), everything is Mac. Was it more expensive? Yes, and it is more expensive every time I replace a 3-year-old Mac with a new one. We currently have 4 iMacs and 5 MacBooks in use.
Of course, it is cheaper in that I can support everything myself, easily, from anywhere I have an internet connection (Apple Remote Desktop). Yes, the same or greater levels of automation are possible in Windows, but not without some serious geek creds which I don't have, or an IT department/person, which my business is too small to justify.
I am not the only one. My accountant's office (4 people) is all Mac. The firm that handles my marketing (2 people) is all Mac. Mac won't replace Windows in the large enterprise any time soon, but for small business it is a terrific fit.
i'm just curious
for your curiosity
Since I moved to a MAC all these things are just memories or past nightmares.
Large business PC
Now I am retired and converted to Mac , and I can say that a corporations would save a lot fo money in the long run if they moved to a MAC system. That without saying the embarrassment when a PC let you down during a board presentation, pushing me to have 2 pc's at all time !
Apple server???
Out of the server business
Small business yes, enterprise not so much
Not common, but it happens