Microsoft Office for iPad launches today, requires Office 365 subscription for editing

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  • Reply 61 of 104
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post



    I still wonder though if the delta is enough to get people to pay $9/mo when iWork suite is free.

     

    I assume MS will try to work this into their advertising.

     

    Along with their bogus "It comes with a real keyboard!" claim for Surface (Fine Print: Optional $99 Accessory), they can now start telling everyone "Office for iPad will cost you 120 bucks a year, but with Surface it's FREEEEEE!!!"

  • Reply 62 of 104
    ndbbmndbbm Posts: 10member
    You would just type. The program is on the iPad and can save the document to the iPad as well. It will/can then sync up with onedrive later.

    The student pricing for office 365 is something like one $70 dollar payment for a 4 year subscription. It covers fewer devices than the $99 a year subscription. There's also a $70 personal subscription too, again covers fewer devices.

    For my personal needs, I am not sold on the subscriptions either. The free web versions (basic features) would probably work fine for me.
  • Reply 63 of 104
    inklinginkling Posts: 742member
    Quote: Office for iPad will use what Microsoft referred to as a "freemium model," allowing users to install the app view documents, but requiring a subscription to Office 365 to make edits.

    If automakers had a similar model, we could park 'our' car in front of our homes, go out kick tires and and look at it anytime we want. The only thing we couldn't do would be to get in and drive it away. That's not a "freeminum model." That's simply a hideously crippled app.

    The good news is that, with Microsoft now openly committed to supporting iPads, Apple has little reason not to enhance its iWorks apps to be equally powerful.
  • Reply 64 of 104
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mytdave View Post



    Wake me up when it doesn't require an Office 365 subscription... zzzzzzz.

    I wouldn't buy it even if it was a stand alone app. I just don't need any of the advanced features they offer which may not be supported in iWork apps. I have not had Office on any Mac since like 2003 or whatever that version was. I have Windows Office for a fall back solution, but rarely used, in fact, the PC is rarely even turned on. For business people who need it, I'm pretty sure the subscription is not going to be an issue. Probably paid for by their company.

  • Reply 65 of 104
    Good to see Satya Nadella in lieu of Steve Ballmer. Which means, for the first time I have seen a quality show from Microsoft. Neat, sharp and very professional presentation. Very unlike all the previous ones in the Steve's era.

    As for Office, the subscription cost is actually not for office product only. Talking of E3, It includes Email services and mailbox storage, Office Client, Office Online, OneDrive Cloud Storage, Sharepoint with its own storage, Lync, Yammer, Active Directory Integration among others.

    Office for iPad is just one of the client programs. So is Office Mobile for iPhone and Windows Phone.

    And yes, it doesn't actually need to remain connected. Works offline just as well.
  • Reply 66 of 104
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Inkling View Post



    The good news is that, with Microsoft now openly committed to supporting iPads, Apple has little reason not to enhance its iWorks apps to be equally powerful.

     

    Whoa, hold on, be careful about the term "openly committed to supporting" when it comes to Microsoft on Apple platforms.  :wow:

     

    We've all seen this movie before.

  • Reply 67 of 104
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member

    The freemium model is fair.  The pricing is not fair. 

  • Reply 68 of 104
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,890member

    I'm so glad I'm unemployed and hopefully never have to use "office" software ever again.

  • Reply 69 of 104
    foadfoad Posts: 717member

    A lot of folks are focusing purely on the consumer side of this. The thing is, this is a big deal for enterprise. There are a lot of large customers that are going to be super stoked on this. As for the subscription, Microsoft now has a home personal subscription for $6.99 a month or $69 a year.

     

    In addition to that, there is a huge upside for Apple selling iPad into the enterprise because of this. I bet there are a lot of large operations that have been hesitant to go more mobile because of a lack of Office.

  • Reply 70 of 104
    foadfoad Posts: 717member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by RedHotFuzz View Post

     

     

    Whoa, hold on, be careful about the term "openly committed to supporting" when it comes to Microsoft on Apple platforms.  :wow:

     

    We've all seen this movie before.


     

    Not under the current CEO. Based on what I have seen with regards to Azure and how well regarded it is, I am at least willing to give the new CEO the benefit of the doubt. Even Brent Simmons who is a prominent Apple developer has spoken highly of Azure.

  • Reply 71 of 104

    Brilliant move by Microsoft. iPads already totally dominate tablet usage in Enterprise and being able to use Office on those devices just further adds to Apple's tablet dominance.

  • Reply 72 of 104
    philboogiephilboogie Posts: 7,675member
    (I have no doubt that they'll ultimately come up with some type of student edition pricing sooner than later).

    They have a 4 year subscription, $79 version.
    mstone wrote: »
    iPad apps to find Word, Excel, PowerPoint as separate apps.

    I don't get this either. Each app says it's 'part of Office for iPad' yet they are all separate downloads. Guess they mean that all three apps are part of a free upgrade scheme for those who bought the $99 'Office 365 for iPad subscription'.

    I must say they got the toolbar right: a single line of tabs (remember those windows with three lines of tabs, resulting in a scetzofrenic experience when they move about?) and a single line of function from that tab:

    1000


    There are now 4 articles published today on AI about MS Office for iPad, yet none have a link to the presentation. Anyone has a link for me? TIA
  • Reply 73 of 104
    ceek74ceek74 Posts: 324member

    Great.  Just great.  So now BestBuy and Microsoft are going to have to change their marketing approach since Office is no longer exclusive to Surface.  Now if only Apple could "invent" an iPad kickstand...

  • Reply 74 of 104
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ceek74 View Post

     

    Now if only Apple could "invent" an iPad kickstand...


     

    Ha!

     

    This release has got me hoping even more for a bigger "pro" iPad.

     

    With Office on a 12" iPad, I could easily use that as a traveling device, then go for a Mac Pro on my desk at the office.

  • Reply 75 of 104
    smalmsmalm Posts: 676member

    "requiring users to subscribe to its Office 365 service for editing documents."

     

    After that I stopped reading.

  • Reply 76 of 104
    foadfoad Posts: 717member

    Tim Cook tweeting about this and Office getting prominent placement on the App Store shows how big a deal this is. iWork is a consumer focused product. Sure a large number of small businesses will use it iWork, not a single enterprise will base their business on iWork. I personally use iWork because I like how it works much more, I know a lot of folks that are super excited about this.

  • Reply 77 of 104
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member

    Using iWork for the next 5 years would cost me $0.

     

    Using Office for the next 5 years would cost me $500.

     

    LMAO. I knew this was coming, but its still hilarious. They will take advantage of the people that don't know any better and think you still need Microsoft Office to type a letter or open a spreadsheet.

  • Reply 78 of 104
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by foad View Post

     

    Tim Cook tweeting about this and Office getting prominent placement on the App Store shows how big a deal this is. iWork is a consumer focused product. Sure a large number of small businesses will use it iWork, not a single enterprise will base their business on iWork. I personally use iWork because I like how it works much more, I know a lot of folks that are super excited about this.


    You know people who are super excited about paying $100 a year to use Apps no more or less useful/capable than Free alternatives?

  • Reply 79 of 104
    appexappex Posts: 687member
    iWork is better and free!
  • Reply 80 of 104
    foadfoad Posts: 717member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by pmz View Post

     

    You know people who are super excited about paying $100 a year to use Apps no more or less useful/capable than Free alternatives?


     

    You might not be interested but I know folks in large enterprises that are stoked. This release has a zero cost impact to their business since more of them are migrating to or are already on Office 365. A lot of focus on AI is on a personal use case, whereas Microsoft's biggest customers are large enterprises. Those people aren't using iWork. Also, those free alternatives don't support Office as well as these do. Another thing...these apps look to be very well designed and developed. Credit should be given when due.

     

    I'll again reiterate that I am not a Office 365 customer and these releases won't change that, but I can see how this is a huge deal for Apple.

     

    As a small side note, Apple actually uses Microsoft Azure (name was recently changed from Windows Azure) and Siri even defaults to Bing for searches. For all the animosity towards Microsoft on these forums, Apple and Microsoft actually have a pretty solid working relationship. I don't really use Microsoft products but I am also not blind to the realities of the industry.

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