Microsoft Office for iPad to launch on Nov. 10 - report

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
A new report has pegged a specific date for the anticipated launch of Microsoft Word for Apple's iPad: Nov. 10, 2012.

The date was reported on Thursday by The Daily, which said that the development team at Microsoft finished work on the project last month. The design team responsible for Office on iPad was also said to have wrapped their work soon after.

"The app is now in the hands of a usability team that appraises software that utilizes the Metro design language for 'Metro compliance' and suggests changes as needed," reporter Matt Hickey wrote. "When approved by the team, the app likely will go to Apple for app store approval, which could take a couple of weeks."

While development of the application is apparently near finished, Thursday's report did not give any indication as to why Microsoft will wait more than five months to release the application on Nov. 10. The story corroborates with a report from last week that claimed Microsoft's industry leading productivity suite will be coming to the iPad and Android-based tablets in November.

Word first surfaced late last year 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.

The Daily first shared what was said to be a picture of Office for iPad in action in February. However, Microsoft quickly responded to the report and portrayed it as "based on inaccurate rumors and speculation."

Office


AppleInsider also learned last week that Microsoft is also working on a new native iOS application for Outlook Web App, called "OWA Mobile Client for iOS," that will offer compatibility with Exchange 2012 mailboxes. It, along with a new version of the Lync application for iOS, will reportedly feature Microsoft's Metro interface, just like Office for iPad is expected to do.

Earlier reports claimed that Office for iPad will allow users to create and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. AppleInsider was told last week that Office for iPad will not include dedicated Outlook functionality, as that ability will apparently be restricted to the forthcoming OWA Mobile Client application.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 53
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    "If we say it enough times, obviously it will be true! We're so smart!"

  • Reply 2 of 53
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,462member

    Quote:


    While development of the application is apparently near finished, Thursday's report did not give any indication as to why Microsoft will wait more than five months to release the application on Nov. 10.



    Microsoft doesn't want to Apple to have too much of a market advantage, they'll wait till the Android version is completed. Moreover, just like Office for the Mac I expect Office for iOS to be just as pathetic.

  • Reply 3 of 53
    chabigchabig Posts: 641member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    Microsoft doesn't want to Apple to have too much of a market advantage, they'll wait till the Android version is completed.



    Not Android (there is no strong Android tablet market). I would expect them to wait until Windows 8 is released.

  • Reply 4 of 53
    ghostface147ghostface147 Posts: 1,629member


    I am wondering if the outlook client would be enough to entice me to drop Apple's mail program on my phone.  The mail app works fine for me.  

  • Reply 5 of 53
    smiles77smiles77 Posts: 668member
    Simple. They want enterprise to buy Windows 8 tablets, so can't release it until Windows 8 is launched.

    Publishing it now would give sell even more millions of iPads to businesses who were on the edge, and further cement its place as the default tablet to buy.
  • Reply 6 of 53
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Smiles77 View Post

    Publishing it now would give sell even more millions of iPads to businesses who were on the edge, and further cement its place as the default tablet to buy.


     


    You say that as though people are actually going to buy Windows 8 tablets at all… image

  • Reply 7 of 53
    smiles77smiles77 Posts: 668member
    I am wondering if the outlook client would be enough to entice me to drop Apple's mail program on my phone.  The mail app works fine for me.  

    If they used a multi-pane format that allowed you to check your calendar while replying to email (I know iOS already has a pop-up module that does a minimal form of that), integrated address book subscriptions in an easy way (I find a lot of iOS users can't figure out how to enable), allowed group editing and emailing (completely absent in iOS afaik), and gave it a much more robust feature set (integrate dropbox, photo, and document access from the mail app) I can see it as being really killer.
  • Reply 8 of 53
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    Will it include MS Access?
  • Reply 9 of 53
    smiles77smiles77 Posts: 668member
    You say that as though people are actually going to buy Windows 8 tablets at all… :lol:

    For free Office, and the comfort of knowing you're not making a decision that could get you fired (safety in legacy), I unfortunately know quite a few that would...
  • Reply 10 of 53
    geoadmgeoadm Posts: 81member


    I agree with all above post saying the wait is for Windows 8, in the hope of selling tablets running windows. Office is really the only thing Microsoft has going for it now, I much prefer it to iWork. The dev preview of windows 8 crashed consistently so I didn't get much of a chance to use it but the metro UI is one of the ugliest UIs i have ever seen

  • Reply 11 of 53
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    Microsoft doesn't want to Apple to have too much of a market advantage, they'll wait till the Android version is completed. Moreover, just like Office for the Mac I expect Office for iOS to be just as pathetic.



    All in all, though both kinda suck, I prefer Word for Mac to Windows Word....


     


    In any case, I can't be stuck in a "nnnnn.pages" world that forces me to "export" extra copies of every file I want to share with 98% of the computing universe.  Apple's design decision not to allow simple saving into doc and docx will keep it a niche product forever.  See Memory Stick, Atracs, and BetaMax, and about a zillion other proprietary dead or dying branches of tech.  Even Open Office and WordPerfect allow default saving into those formats.   And I've never heard a cogent explanation of how .pages is a "superior format" in any meaningful way.


     


    The same is true of the rest of the iWork suite, but at least I SHOW my Keynotes rather than share them, so I do use that (better than PowerPoint) program.


     


    Office for Mac is a nice little continuing profit center for MS - even if was kept around back in the day to help MS avoid anti-trust prosecution - and with the anemia of their own tablet share they stand to benefit more from releasing the best iPad program they can.  So as long as docx remains the lingua franca of word processing, it's to their advantage, especially as Apple is coming to dominate this new frontier of computing which will become more and more consumers' main machine - and, as is well-documented, iPad penetration into the F1000 market is increasing by leaps and bounds - and all those users need native Office compatibility.


     


    I've also read that as MS sifts the tea leaves, they're realizing that cross-platform and net software may have to become a bigger part of their strategy.  And everyone knows Mac users buy and upgrade their software more regularly than Windows or Android users.  



    So, no, I don't believe any delay is so that they can also get it on the smattering of Android tabs. (For one thing MS and Apple are practically cozy with each other of late compared to either company's current relationships with Google.) 


     


    Seems more likely that they want to get it as right as possible out of the gate.  A botched release would (could) be a strategic misstep which I believe they strongly want to avoid before another company releases an Office work-alike that could displace them in this space.  Though they might be waiting until their RT tabs are at least released......

  • Reply 12 of 53
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Smiles77 View Post

    For free Office, and the comfort of knowing you're not making a decision that could get you fired (safety in legacy), I unfortunately know quite a few that would...




    Free Office that won't be compatible with proper computers, you mean.


     


    And your company has no right to tell you what kind of tablet you buy for personal use. If you're given one by them, that's something else entirely.

  • Reply 13 of 53
    zunxzunx Posts: 620member


    PowerPoint for iPod touch can be the ultimate presentation tool if coupled with a Bluetooth remote like the Bluetooth version of the current PR-US2 Keyspan Wireless Presentation Remote



    The presentation in your pocket. Always.
  • Reply 14 of 53
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    A new report has pegged a specific date for the anticipated launch of Microsoft Word for Apple's iPad: Nov. 10, 2012.

    The date was reported on Thursday by The Daily, which said that the development team at Microsoft finished work on the project last month. The design team responsible for Office on iPad was also said to have wrapped their work soon after. ...


     



     


    I just flat out do not believe this.  


     


    It won't be "Office for iPad" it will be an app that "let's you access Office on the iPad."  Which is not even close to the same thing. 


     


    For starters, you cannot do suites of apps on iOS.  It's impossible.  


    Secondly, it's taken Apple's designers, (who obviously have a much better knowledge of iOS and it's internals and a long head start), years to get even 90% functionality out of their desktop productivity apps when moving them to iOS.  Apple's designers are also arguably far better at their job and obviously more talented that the people that design Office, even Office for Mac.  


     


    Finally, most people who aren't business users (i.e. normal consumers), don't actually want "Office for iPad."  What they want is Word for iPad, and by that I mean a native, iOS Word app that's simple and easy to use. 


     


    This will be some f*cked up Metro looking thing that links to Office on the Web, almost for certain. You will probably have to pay a monthly fee for access.


     


    Big Deal. 

  • Reply 15 of 53
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by zunx View Post


    PowerPoint for iPod touch can be the ultimate presentation tool if coupled with a Bluetooth remote like the Bluetooth version of the current PR-US2 Keyspan Wireless Presentation Remote



    The presentation in your pocket. Always.



     


    Keynote is better than Powerpoint on all platforms.  All surveys of users always agree on this.  

  • Reply 16 of 53
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post


    Microsoft doesn't want to Apple to have too much of a market advantage, they'll wait till the Android version is completed. Moreover, just like Office for the Mac I expect Office for iOS to be just as pathetic.



     


    Office for Mac is generally reviewed as being much easier to use and more stable overall than Office for Windows. 


     


     


    Your pathetic political link in your sig outs you as a contrarian though, so we should probably all believe the reverse of what you say anyway.  :)

  • Reply 17 of 53
    vandilvandil Posts: 187member


    With iWork apps dominating iOS and the iPad dominating the tablet market, the only way Microsoft can keep its Office Suite relevant in the post-PC era is to have Office available for the dominant platform...  and now they get to pay Apple 30% per pop.


     


    One thing Microsoft needs to do, though, is work on security and stability.  Office gets updated way too often versus iWork.  People will get sick of being prompted for lengthy update downloads.

  • Reply 18 of 53
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    chabig wrote: »
    Not Android (there is no strong Android tablet market). I would expect them to wait until Windows 8 is released.

    More specifically, Windows tablets, and Rt tablets. If its available for iOs and Android months earlier, it would significantly hurt the possibly of Microsoft tablet sales

    It likely will anyway, but not as badly.
  • Reply 19 of 53
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    gazoobee wrote: »
    I just flat out do not believe this.  

    It won't be "Office for iPad" it will be an app that "let's you access Office on the iPad."  Which is not even close to the same thing. 

    For starters, you cannot do suites of apps on iOS.  It's impossible.  
    Secondly, it's taken Apple's designers, (who obviously have a much better knowledge of iOS and it's internals and a long head start), years to get even 90% functionality out of their desktop productivity apps when moving them to iOS.  Apple's designers are also arguably far better at their job and obviously more talented that the people that design Office, even Office for Mac.  

    Finally, most people who aren't business users (i.e. normal consumers), don't actually want "Office for iPad."  What they want is Word for iPad, and by that I mean a native, iOS Word app that's simple and easy to use. 

    This will be some f*cked up Metro looking thing that links to Office on the Web, almost for certain. You will probably have to pay a monthly fee for access.

    Big Deal. 

    Let's wait until it comes out before complaining about what it is and isn't, shall we?
  • Reply 20 of 53


    It will be native. It will use Metro interface which has already been tested and explored for Windows 8 tablets for a significant amount of time so going native app on the iPad has many problems already solved.


     


    Microsoft is waiting for Windows 8 tablets to have a head start with Office as their killer app. Many, MANY people are interested in this. Microsoft Office documents are still standard exchange formats for most businesses. If someone uses their tablet at work or is thinking about it, they'll want it.


     


    Since Microsoft has almost zero foothold in the mobile and tablet space with Windows and it knows there is a decent chance that Windows 8 will completely fail to change that, Office may be its only hope for a significant revenue stream to come from that space besides the license fees it already collects.


     


    Because this is a long-term survival tactic, I expect Office for iPad to be better than average at worst.

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