Sam Oliver
Citing a "reliable source," Boy Genius Report said on Wednesday that Microsoft is planning to release the full Office suite for iPad later this year. The loading screen for the application reportedly says "Office for iOS," which could suggest that it will also be compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch.
A version of Office for Android tablets will also reportedly debut in November alongside an iOS version. Other details on the software, such as pricing or features, remain unknown.
Word first surfaced last November that Microsoft was working on an iOS version of its Office suite. It was also said that the Redmond, Wash., software company planned to release an updated version of Office for Mac on Apple's digital distribution Mac App Store.
Word of Office for iPad appeared again this February, when iPad news publication The Daily shared what was said to be a version of Office for iPad in action. However, Microsoft quickly responded to the report and accompanying picture, portraying them as "based on inaccurate rumors and speculation."
February's report suggested that a version of Office for iPad would "soon" be submitted to Apple for review, suggesting it would appear on the App Store relatively quickly. However, since then, no word of an Office for iPad has surfaced.
That report also claimed that Word, Excel and PowerPoint files could be created and edited both locally and online with the iPad version of Office. It was reported as "unclear" whether Microsoft would support other Office applications, such as Outlook or Communicator.
Microsoft already offers a number of software options for iOS, including OneNote, Bing, SkyDrive, My Xbox Live, and the game Kinectimals.
Bon Adamson
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
AppleInsider Staff
Amber Neely
80 Comments
So do we wait a few hours for Microsoft to denounce this again, or what?
They're playing the Apple game every time they do that.
So do we wait a few hours for Microsoft to denounce this again, or what?
They're playing the Apple game every time they do that.
Even if they do it, it sounds like more of an "access Office online from iOS" kind of deal, so ... not very interesting unless you are some business dude and the territory is pretty much covered already by others.
If they were smart, they would release Word for iOS as a standalone app.
That has the potential to seriously knock Apple off it's iOS software perch and would decimate Pages if done correctly.
That has the potential to seriously knock Apple off it's iOS software perch and would decimate Pages if done correctly.
Only if they charge like $2.99 for it. Otherwise folks will go with Pages or one of the dozen Office clones that gets you all 3 programs for $9.99
Oh and it better launch with iCloud compatibility from day one and retina support etc. And be seriously bug checked up down left right and inside out. Because they are way way late to this game and anything that is missing or goes wrong will get them destroyed in the reviews and ratings.
Pages is actually pretty good, my only complaint about the iOS version is the inability to use text boxes etc to really layout a page. They went with only supporting their word processing templates and it's limited and a tad annoying. I'm hoping they will add at least their basic page layout stuff even if they don't include things like auto flow between text boxes etc.
What consumers really want is the iWork suite for Windows.
What consumers really want is the iWork suite for Windows.
And iLife suite (at, say, something like $99.99) too.