Rumor: Apple planning cloud-based iWork suite for iPad to fight MS Office
Apple is reportedly working with VMware to bring a cloud-based, business oriented version of its iWork suite of apps to the iPad, with the partnership said to be directed squarely at Microsoft's rumored release of Office for iOS.
According to CRN, people familiar with the project claim that the initiative looks to undercut Microsoft's exorbitant pricing for MS Office by offering a cloud-hosted version of Apple's iWork suite, which includes Pages, Keynote and Numbers.
"Apple wants Pages to be seen as a replacement for Microsoft Word, Numbers as a replacement for Excel and Keynote as a replacement for PowerPoint," one of the sources said.
The system is thought to incorporate VMware View virtual desktop software with cloud versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers, which will be running on Apple's servers. Interestingly, the service will be separate from iCloud, which currently hosts "Document in the Cloud" for syncing and downloading files between iOS and OS X devices.
As iWork has traditionally been aimed at consumers, the rumored partnership could yield a totally separate offering for enterprise class customers, with the cloud-based software offering a more powerful set of features when compared to iCloud.
It appears that the rumored suite will be a central hub for business customers as the two companies are looking to leverage Horizon Mobile, VMware's software that allows personal and business apps and data to be stored on two different partitions, alleviating IT concerns with the bring your own device (BYOD) movement. Also part of the solution is VMware's Horizon Application Manager, a tool sometimes described as an app store for enterprise.
Not much is known about how Apple plans to implement the project, though it could feasibly be compatible with machines running Windows. This would account for VMware's contributions, including Virtual View, as well as the purported suite's location on non-iCloud servers.
The source failed to offer a launch timetable, however the rumored solution could debut before Microsoft releases an expected iOS version of MS Office in March 2013.
According to CRN, people familiar with the project claim that the initiative looks to undercut Microsoft's exorbitant pricing for MS Office by offering a cloud-hosted version of Apple's iWork suite, which includes Pages, Keynote and Numbers.
"Apple wants Pages to be seen as a replacement for Microsoft Word, Numbers as a replacement for Excel and Keynote as a replacement for PowerPoint," one of the sources said.
The system is thought to incorporate VMware View virtual desktop software with cloud versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers, which will be running on Apple's servers. Interestingly, the service will be separate from iCloud, which currently hosts "Document in the Cloud" for syncing and downloading files between iOS and OS X devices.
As iWork has traditionally been aimed at consumers, the rumored partnership could yield a totally separate offering for enterprise class customers, with the cloud-based software offering a more powerful set of features when compared to iCloud.
It appears that the rumored suite will be a central hub for business customers as the two companies are looking to leverage Horizon Mobile, VMware's software that allows personal and business apps and data to be stored on two different partitions, alleviating IT concerns with the bring your own device (BYOD) movement. Also part of the solution is VMware's Horizon Application Manager, a tool sometimes described as an app store for enterprise.
Not much is known about how Apple plans to implement the project, though it could feasibly be compatible with machines running Windows. This would account for VMware's contributions, including Virtual View, as well as the purported suite's location on non-iCloud servers.
The source failed to offer a launch timetable, however the rumored solution could debut before Microsoft releases an expected iOS version of MS Office in March 2013.
Comments
Why in the world would VMWare have anything to do with this? Apple would do their own thing or directly buy a company needed to do it their way.
On the other hand, Numbers could be a contender.
Originally Posted by kkerst
Pages is nowhere near as powerful as Word. Take references, they are impossible in Pages, and Word does this natively. Actually, Framemaker is the best word processor ever designed.
On the other hand, Numbers could be a contender.
Huh? Did you mix up these names? And how are references impossible?
Quote:
Originally Posted by kkerst
Pages is nowhere near as powerful as Word. Take references, they are impossible in Pages, and Word does this natively. Actually, Framemaker is the best word processor ever designed.
On the other hand, Numbers could be a contender.
Pages does footnotes. Easily.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Huh? Did you mix up these names? And how are references impossible?
Footnotes were impossible in Pages on iOS until fairly recently. Probably means that.
Framemaker was good for large structured documents (not "word processing" per se), when it was at Sun. Anyone who still uses the "Framemaker rules" meme is kind of outing themselves as someone so old and out of touch that they probably shouldn't be taken seriously. Besides, Adobe ruined Framemaker years ago as they do with everything they touch.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kkerst
Pages is nowhere near as powerful as Word. Take references, they are impossible in Pages, and Word does this natively. Actually, Framemaker is the best word processor ever designed.
On the other hand, Numbers could be a contender.
Pages is much closer to Word in terms of features compared to Numbers and Excel. But both Pages and Numbers are very very poor substitutes for business needs.
Keynote is great, just wish it would render PowerPoint presentations correctly.
I am highly suspicious that Apple has no such plans.
2. What the heck has VMware has got to do with this?
3. I don't think Apple [I]wants[/I] to take on MS Office, they simply wouldn't have the time to create all the products in that package:
Word
Excel
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Lync
SharePoint Server
Office 365
Communicator
Live Meeting
OneNote
Project
Project Online
Project Server
Publisher
Visio
Accounting
FrontPage
Groove
InfoPath
Dashboard Designer
Search Server
SharePoint Designer
SharePoint Foundation
SharePoint Online
SharePoint Workspace
Small Business Accounting
Windows SharePoint Services
Apple will have to seriously update iWork if it wants this catch on in enterprise settings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilBoogie
2. What the heck has VMware has got to do with this?
VMWare provides, among other things, cloud computing services. Which Apple has historically been very bad at...
Quote:
Originally Posted by PhilBoogie
1. I agree that Framemaker is way better than Word.
2. What the heck has VMware has got to do with this?
3. I don't think Apple wants to take on MS Office, they simply wouldn't have the time to create all the products in that package:
Word
Excel
PowerPoint
Outlook
Access
Lync
SharePoint Server
Office 365
Communicator
Live Meeting
OneNote
Project
Project Online
Project Server
Publisher
Visio
Accounting
FrontPage
Groove
InfoPath
Dashboard Designer
Search Server
SharePoint Designer
SharePoint Foundation
SharePoint Online
SharePoint Workspace
Small Business Accounting
Windows SharePoint Services
I would venture that any product that includes all this useless dreck is actually a bad product and shouldn't be imitated at all.
The value in an Office alternative would be in doing it right for the first time by *not* copying everything Microsoft has done. By starting from the ground up and re-imagining the entire product they could get to a much better place than trying to copy Microsoft. It's more or less what they are doing already, but so far they have stopped short of taking iWork to what could be called a "professional" level.
Personally I think the answer is in focussing on keeping it individual apps instead of a "suite." The minute you get the mindset that it's a complete suite and that it should have enough in it to "satisfy everyone" then you have arrived at the gigantic unwieldy mess that is Microsoft Office.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Why in the world would VMWare have anything to do with this? Apple would do their own thing or directly buy a company needed to do it their way.
VMware is made up of a lot of ex-Apple talent (118)
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-where-all-that-talent-leaving-apple-ends-up-2012-4?op=1
Perhaps something is afoot? Though, I'd like to see Apple gobble up the new Sun http://joyent.com
Maybe all this is a precursor to Apple's big entrance into enterprise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Huh? Did you mix up these names? And how are references impossible?
No, Pages does not do references. A footnote is not exactly the same. For example, if I have a list of numbered items:
1) Some kind of text here
2) More text here
3) Even more text here
And somewhere else within the document I have text in a paragraph similar to:
"This doodad is used for some really useful. For detailed information please see reference 1)" <-- this is numbered item 1) above (or index of references in Framemaker)
This is not a footnote, this is a reference I'm talking about. You can't do that in Pages, impossible and it astounds me that they have never added that ability to Pages. I have even sent a request to Apple about it. You can do this is Word simple.
While I'm on my pedestal here, here's another thing that burns me about Pages. In Word, I can have different number headings:
1 Heading 1
1.0 Subheading 1
1.1 Subheading 2
2 Heading 2
2.0 Subheading 1
2.1 Subheading 2
Can't do that in pages, it restarts the subheading 1.0 under each new heading. Why can't I use the current heading as continued number for my subheading??? You get this instead
1 Heading 1
1.0 Subheading 1
1.1 Subheading 2
2 Heading 2
1.0 Subheading 1
1.1 Subheading 2
Pages is very limiting.
Quote:
Originally Posted by z3r0
... I'd like to see Apple gobble up the new Sun http://joyent.com
Maybe all this is a precursor to Apple's big entrance into enterprise.
Why? and ... why?
"Getting into Enterprise" is what destroyed any chance Microsoft ever had of winning the consumer market. The consumer market is also more rewarding financially and is now leading the corporate market by the nose.
Jumping into the corporate market (something Apple has *always* sucked at anyway), would be a giant step backwards today. It would ruin the company IMO.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kkerst
No, Pages does not do references. A footnote is not exactly the same. For example, if I have a list of numbered items:
1) Some kind of text here
2) More text here
3) Even more text here
And somewhere else within the document I have text in a paragraph similar to:
"This doodad is used for some really useful. For detailed information please see reference 1)" <-- this is numbered item 1) above (or index of references in Framemaker)
This is not a footnote, this is a reference I'm talking about. You can't do that in Pages, impossible and it astounds me that they have never added that ability to Pages. I have even sent a request to Apple about it. You can do this is Word simple.
While I'm on my pedestal here, here's another thing that burns me about Pages. In Word, I can have different number headings:
1 Heading 1
1.0 Subheading 1
1.1 Subheading 2
2 Heading 2
2.0 Subheading 1
2.1 Subheading 2
Can't do that in pages, it restarts the subheading 1.0 under each new heading. Why can't I use the current heading as continued number for my subheading??? You get this instead
1 Heading 1
1.0 Subheading 1
1.1 Subheading 2
2 Heading 2
1.0 Subheading 1
1.1 Subheading 2
Pages is very limiting.
Your first example is a perfect example of a badly formatted document. You want hyperlinks inside the document as if it was a web page instead of "proper" references as they normally occur in documents. Even so, I'm pretty sure you could do it with a bookmark which works almost the exact same way.
Your second example is a small problem that most users will never come across and is hardly evidence of how "limiting" Pages is. All you are really saying is that the list doesn't format this way *automatically* when you make it in the same way as you would in Word. It's not impossible to make the list and to make it exactly as you describe. I just did it myself to be certain.
These kind of unreasonable demands ("Pages must do everything Word does in exactly the same way!!!"), are half the problem. The attitude that Word should do *everything* for every user and do it automatically is the very reason why Word is such a bloated mess in the first place.
Originally Posted by MacGizmo
…you know, the ones that their customers actually use.
Cue dozens of citations of how foolish a statement this is, including my own.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Your first example is a perfect example of a badly formatted document. You want hyperlinks inside the document as if it was a web page instead of "proper" references as they normally occur in documents. Even so, I'm pretty sure you could do it with a bookmark which works almost the exact same way.
Your second example is a small problem that most users will never come across and is hardly evidence of how "limiting" Pages is. All you are really saying is that the list doesn't format this way *automatically* when you make it in the same way as you would in Word. It's not impossible to make the list and to make it exactly as you describe. I just did it myself to be certain.
These kind of unreasonable demands ("Pages must do everything Word does in exactly the same way!!!"), are half the problem. The attitude that Word should do *everything* for every user and do it automatically is the very reason why Word is such a bloated mess in the first place.
I really don't care about hyperlinking inside the same document. I do care about a citation or a cross reference that can be auto updated throughout the entire document without me having to search all the places I made the cross reference. Seems like an easy feature to add to me.
For my second example, if there's a way to do it on the iOS version of Pages, I'm completely open to understanding how to do it. Maybe this ability only exists on the OS X version because I can't find out to do it on the iOS version.