Microsoft Office for iPad arrives: Word, Excel & PowerPoint now available to download

Microsoft Word for iPad, Microsoft Excel for iPad and Microsoft PowerPoint for iPad are all available as free downloads. Users can view documents for free with the software, but require a subscription to Office 365 in order to make edits.

The full list of features for Word on iPad, according to Microsoft, are:

• Word documents look beautiful
  • Images, tables, charts, SmartArt, footnotes, equations are all there, nicely formatted.
  • Word documents look great, just as they do on your PC or Mac.
  • View email attachments and access all your Word documents from OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint.
  • Pick up from where you left off because Word for iPad knows what you were working on last, no matter what device you were using.

• Create and edit with confidence
  • When you edit a document, your content and formatting are maintained across all your devices - PC, Mac, tablet and phone.
  • Express your ideas exactly the way you want, with rich formatting including fonts, pictures, tables, charts, textboxes, shapes, footnotes, page layout and more.
  • Track changes, add comments and work simultaneously with others on the same document.
  • Word automatically saves your document, so you can rest assured that you don't lose all your work while you're on the go.
  • Simply share your work with others by emailing a hyperlink or the entire document.

• It's easy to pick up the app and get started, because it's like the Word experience you already know.
• The familiar navigation and menu options are built for a touch experience. No keyboard required.

Features of Excel, according to Microsoft, are:

• Excel spreadsheets look stunning
  • Formulas, tables, charts, comments, hyperlinks, sparklines, conditional formatting are all there, so you see the whole picture.
  • Excel spreadsheets look great, just as they do on your PC or Mac.
  • View email attachments and access all your Excel spreadsheets from OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint.
  • Pick up from where you left off because Excel for iPad knows what you were working on last, no matter what device you were using.

• Create and edit with confidence
  • When you edit a spreadsheet, your content and formatting are maintained across all your devices - PC, Mac, tablet and phone.
  • Turn numbers into insights, with support for formulas, charts, tables, sorting, filtering, and more.
  • A special formula keyboard lets you add numbers and formulas rapidly - much easier than with the standard touch keyboard.
  • Excel automatically saves your spreadsheet, so you can rest assured that you don't lose all your work while you're on the go.
  • Simply share your work with others by emailing a hyperlink or the entire spreadsheet.

And finally, Microsoft's advertised features for PowerPoint on iPad are:

• PowerPoint presentations look amazing
  • Images, tables, charts, SmartArt, transitions, animations are all there, nicely formatted.
  • PowerPoint presentation look great, just as they do on your PC or Mac.
  • When presenting, use the built-in laser pointer, pens or highlighters to get your point across.
  • View email attachments and access all your PowerPoint presentations from OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint.
  • Pick up from where you left off because PowerPoint for iPad knows what you were working on last, no matter what device you were using.

• Create and edit with confidence
  • When you edit a document, your content and formatting are maintained across all your devices - PC, Mac, tablet and phone.
  • Express your ideas exactly the way you want, with full support for rich formatting including fonts, pictures, tables, textboxes, shapes, transitions, speaker notes and more.
  • Work simultaneously with others on the same presentation.
  • PowerPoint automatically saves your presentation, so you can rest assured that you don't lose all your work while you're on the go.
  • Simply share your work with others by emailing a hyperlink or the entire presentation.

A qualifying Office 365 subscription is required to edit and create PowerPoint presentations. Qualifying plans include:

• Office 365 Home
• Office 365 Small Business Premium
• Office 365 Midsize Business
• Office 365 Enterprise E3 and E4 (Enterprise and Government)
• Office 365 Education A3 and A4
• Office 365 ProPlus
• Office 365 University
• Office 365 trial subscriptions

Those who don't have a subscription can buy Office 365 Home from within any of the free applications on iPad. Office 365 Home also includes up-to-date versions of Office for up to 5 PCs or Macs and 5 mobile devices, plus an additional 20 gigabytes of OneDrive cloud storage, and Skype world minutes where available.

Office 365 subscriptions made through the iPad applications are in-app purchases charged through Apple's iTunes account. Subscriptions will automatically renew 24 hours prior to the end of the current subscription period, unless auto-renew is disabled beforehand.