Wow, it's Friday morning and someone at Microsoft decided, "what the hell, let's really blow this week!"
Really, can Microsoft do anything right these days?
I was really excited about MS Office for iOS, but wow, did they blow it... and not in a beta/version-1 kind of way, but in a way that's all kinds of bad and not likely to improve.
I'm ok with the $99 a year. I don't like it, but if it's solid, it's worth it.
What I'm not ok with is simple things like not being able to save a document unless you're connected and able to log in. Not being able to print at all. And worse, somehow managing to be less compatible with Office than several other apps including Apple's iWork.
Specifically, "I have to be fair to Microsoft: Its version of Mobile Office for Window Phone has all the same issues and limitations, as did the years-old version of the long-dead Windows Mobile platform".
In other words, for Microsoft, this is as good as it gets.
Thanks for that link. A good article, well-founded and I really liked the closing statement:
"Luckily, you don't need Microsoft Office to work with Office documents in a serious way on your iPhone. Get iWork or Quickoffice, and you'll have the Office you need."
Exactly. This is a response to iWork for iCloud which was demoed earlier in the week. Honestly that must have sent shivers down their spines. Sorry Microsoft, I can barely stand using the version of office work gave me for free. I'm sure as hell not paying you a subscription fee.
Yes, many shivers. Chairs became airborne... monkey boy danced... resumes were updated.
I only hope Uncle Fester doesn't lose his job due to Apple. May he continue to helm MS all the way into the iceberg. Only question is, "Who will Uncle Fester throw overboard this time around??
Subscription only is one way to get around paying any store cut.
Will be interesting to see how long before it appears on an iPad given the push of Office as a USP on a Surface tablet. I'd say a while or never.
There's a lot of lack of knowledge in this thread (as well as a lot of "fighting the last war," i.e., the one with MS when other companies are now the primary concerns both in Apple's sights, and who has Apple in theirs). MS has already announced they're working on Office working with all iOS devices - and even gave "sometime in 2014" as a projected date.
And of course, any iOS for Office apps (other than the piece that's out already) won't come out until a metro-ized version of Office is released on their own products. One reason why a lack of the old start menu is so glaring is that MS doesn't even have its OWN mainline software on its own "main OS" which is supposed to be capable of hosting major programs like Office.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
I'd like to keep my iPhone and Mac Microsoft-free.
See comment after next quoted post. You can't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by christopher126
No thanks...don't want anything MS in my life or on my devices and certainly don't like subscription services that go into my account and take money out!
This is what I mean by lack of knowledge: MS tech is built into both OS X (e.g., Apple's been transitioning to some protocol for years and just announced they're completing the shift - "SMB" comes to mind, but I really don't remember), and the upcoming iOS 7 (e.g., Siri and Bing). And the companies are co-operating and co-optioning in other areas, e.g., working with Exchange. NTM Office being the #1 productivity suite on the Mac.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rednival
I have had a theory Microsoft has been sitting on this for a while. All the rumors that Office for iPad and iPhone existed, I just think Microsoft didn't want to release it. Releasing Office for iPhone is close to admitting defeat. They had to hope that Office being exclusive to Windows Phone and Surface would draw people from iPhone and the iPad. Didn't work. Then, Apple announced its cloud based office suite, and that was it. Microsoft had to act.
Microsoft is struggling on mobile, losing ground with Windows 8, Xbox One is in trouble, so the only thing Microsoft has going for it is enterprise and business software. They can't afford to give Apple and others an obvious opening any longer.
It's pretty smart, actually. I've always thought Microsoft's going to try and stay and factor in the consumer market and are willing to take big risks there, but in the back of their minds, they see themselves and a business/enterprise company now.
Answered above. But you're basically correct and had a couple of good insights here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by peteo
Pretty interesting that this comes out right after apple announces iwork for icloud.
EDU office 365 pricing is pretty good, $74 for 4 years. gives you access to Office for pc/mac, office 365 mobile apps and office on demand (streams office to a pc/mac without it)+ 27gb of skydrive space.
No real web version though. Also the iphone app has pretty limiting editing abilities. But documents look exactly like do in office on the computer & editing and saving them will not screw them up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by realwarder
Note that any Skydrive account can edit a Word document through the web for free. Excel too. It's far from full featured, but enables basic editing the same as all these web editors. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps/
It's better than Google Docs (which isn't saying much), though there are def quirks. The docs produced are also properly formatted when brought into Office - which is not true of either G. Docs - or the first version (at least) of Pages which I own - and don't use because of the necessity of "exporting" documents into Word format - which creates multiple copies of every Pages doc I want to share - not even most of my Mac using friends have Pages and adds extra steps.
I also noted that during the Keynote, AAPL was quick to note how how easy it was to open Word Docs in the new webified iWorks, but were mute on whether re-saving them in the original format was equally simple. Omissions like that make me think it isn't. Does anyone know?
Quote:
Originally Posted by b9bot
The subscription based model ruins it for many. I don't want to pay for an application over and over again just to use it. iWork with iCloud is a way better deal and I don't have to pay Microsofts extortion money to keep using it. It works on Mac, Windows, and iPad and iPhone and iPod Touch. Microsoft is in trouble with there GREEDY subscription crap. They want to extort the user like they do with there corporate licensing fees every year. It's easy money cause they don't have to do a thing except collect there money.
All these companies are trying to move to subscription models. Apple tried it for years with little success. And what do you think iTunes Match is (for large collections)? Right - a subscription service and likely one they're not doing at or below cost. So does that make Apple greedy as well??
Sheesh. Also, I don't fault them for dropping support for earlier versions of hardware and software after certain intervals, but they're also not shy about "encouraging" upgrades in their "buy once and own the license or device" products either.
But Adobe's move has totally pissed me off. I've spent 20 years learning to use their software at the level I want for my own personal projects - but I'm an amateur who may not touch it for months at a time and $50/month is way too steep for what's pocket change to a working pro (as is, to me, the lesser amount for PS alone).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ifij775
I think this is a huge win for Apple in enterprise sales. The only thing that can top this is MS Office for iPad.
As noted above, along with some reasons for the projected timeline, MS has said it's coming.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaipher
So much for Microsoft's latest "iOS Doesn't do Office" commercial.
Now that subscription based software is the red-headed lepper in the room, I hope MS & Adobe suffer the same fate giving way for better suites (like iWork) to shine.
Also, as noted above and below, MS's price (for five licenses) isn't that out of line, and they at least are still still a stand-alone license. But Adobe's going to see a real backlash for sure. I hear they already are. I hope it's enough pushback to get them to reconsider re-offering a boxed version.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rednival
I kind of like Adobe's subscriptions. I need Photoshop from time to time, but not enough to justify the price tag. So $20 for access here and there is sufficient, but ditching licenses altogether was a bad move.
Keep in mind, Microsoft still sells Office the way they always have. Office365 is just a new option. They may go the way of Adobe in the near future, but so far they have not.
Everyone keeps talking like Office365 is the only way to get Office now, and that's completely false. I am not so much defending Microsoft as I am defending accuracy.
Re your last sentence, that makes at least two of us here....
Quote:
Originally Posted by GadgetCanadaV2
Office is Microsoft's last island. They've already sunk their other island with the Xbox One. Windows 8 is at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Windows RT is burning up in the earth's core. Balmer is surfing like an ape on a surfboard having a great old time not realizing the wave will cover his last island.
I simply cannot fathom how far Microsoft has fallen since Balmer has taken charge. The board of directors must be under lock-down to not get rid of this buffoon. At least I respected Bill.
Bill HAS to be the only reason Ballmer's still around (loyalty to an old friend or whatever Ballmer has on him). Still looking up?
What I don't get is how Office apps -- ANY Office app -- matters to iPhone users? What kind of work can you possibly do on a screen the size of a playing card?
What I don't get is how Office apps -- ANY Office app -- matters to iPhone users? What kind of work can you possibly do on a screen the size of a playing card?
My point exactly, what a waste of time/effort to release a buggy app that only allows you era on iPhone, since editing would be diffcult and If you use on iPad it is not tuned to use full capabilities.
Comments
Thanks for that link. A good article, well-founded and I really liked the closing statement:
"Luckily, you don't need Microsoft Office to work with Office documents in a serious way on your iPhone. Get iWork or Quickoffice, and you'll have the Office you need."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunks
Exactly. This is a response to iWork for iCloud which was demoed earlier in the week. Honestly that must have sent shivers down their spines. Sorry Microsoft, I can barely stand using the version of office work gave me for free. I'm sure as hell not paying you a subscription fee.
Yes, many shivers. Chairs became airborne... monkey boy danced... resumes were updated.
I only hope Uncle Fester doesn't lose his job due to Apple. May he continue to helm MS all the way into the iceberg. Only question is, "Who will Uncle Fester throw overboard this time around??
Keep him there until after it hits. They need someone to keep the ship pointed in the right direction, after all.
2)3 platforms battle on IOS
Google, Apple, Microsoft on apples devices, well then
Quote:
Originally Posted by Curtis Hannah
1) Microsoft will stop advertising that it is not on IOS
2)3 platforms battle on IOS
Google, Apple, Microsoft on apples devices, well then
However the battle wages, MS Office will be harmed as an outright standard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by realwarder
Subscription only is one way to get around paying any store cut.
Will be interesting to see how long before it appears on an iPad given the push of Office as a USP on a Surface tablet. I'd say a while or never.
There's a lot of lack of knowledge in this thread (as well as a lot of "fighting the last war," i.e., the one with MS when other companies are now the primary concerns both in Apple's sights, and who has Apple in theirs). MS has already announced they're working on Office working with all iOS devices - and even gave "sometime in 2014" as a projected date.
And of course, any iOS for Office apps (other than the piece that's out already) won't come out until a metro-ized version of Office is released on their own products. One reason why a lack of the old start menu is so glaring is that MS doesn't even have its OWN mainline software on its own "main OS" which is supposed to be capable of hosting major programs like Office.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
I'd like to keep my iPhone and Mac Microsoft-free.
See comment after next quoted post. You can't.
Quote:Originally Posted by christopher126
No thanks...don't want anything MS in my life or on my devices and certainly don't like subscription services that go into my account and take money out!
This is what I mean by lack of knowledge: MS tech is built into both OS X (e.g., Apple's been transitioning to some protocol for years and just announced they're completing the shift - "SMB" comes to mind, but I really don't remember), and the upcoming iOS 7 (e.g., Siri and Bing). And the companies are co-operating and co-optioning in other areas, e.g., working with Exchange. NTM Office being the #1 productivity suite on the Mac.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rednival
I have had a theory Microsoft has been sitting on this for a while. All the rumors that Office for iPad and iPhone existed, I just think Microsoft didn't want to release it. Releasing Office for iPhone is close to admitting defeat. They had to hope that Office being exclusive to Windows Phone and Surface would draw people from iPhone and the iPad. Didn't work. Then, Apple announced its cloud based office suite, and that was it. Microsoft had to act.
Microsoft is struggling on mobile, losing ground with Windows 8, Xbox One is in trouble, so the only thing Microsoft has going for it is enterprise and business software. They can't afford to give Apple and others an obvious opening any longer.
It's pretty smart, actually. I've always thought Microsoft's going to try and stay and factor in the consumer market and are willing to take big risks there, but in the back of their minds, they see themselves and a business/enterprise company now.
Answered above. But you're basically correct and had a couple of good insights here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by peteo
Pretty interesting that this comes out right after apple announces iwork for icloud.
EDU office 365 pricing is pretty good, $74 for 4 years. gives you access to Office for pc/mac, office 365 mobile apps and office on demand (streams office to a pc/mac without it)+ 27gb of skydrive space.
No real web version though. Also the iphone app has pretty limiting editing abilities. But documents look exactly like do in office on the computer & editing and saving them will not screw them up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by realwarder
Note that any Skydrive account can edit a Word document through the web for free. Excel too. It's far from full featured, but enables basic editing the same as all these web editors. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps/
It's better than Google Docs (which isn't saying much), though there are def quirks. The docs produced are also properly formatted when brought into Office - which is not true of either G. Docs - or the first version (at least) of Pages which I own - and don't use because of the necessity of "exporting" documents into Word format - which creates multiple copies of every Pages doc I want to share - not even most of my Mac using friends have Pages and adds extra steps.
I also noted that during the Keynote, AAPL was quick to note how how easy it was to open Word Docs in the new webified iWorks, but were mute on whether re-saving them in the original format was equally simple. Omissions like that make me think it isn't. Does anyone know?
Quote:
Originally Posted by b9bot
The subscription based model ruins it for many. I don't want to pay for an application over and over again just to use it. iWork with iCloud is a way better deal and I don't have to pay Microsofts extortion money to keep using it. It works on Mac, Windows, and iPad and iPhone and iPod Touch. Microsoft is in trouble with there GREEDY subscription crap. They want to extort the user like they do with there corporate licensing fees every year. It's easy money cause they don't have to do a thing except collect there money.
All these companies are trying to move to subscription models. Apple tried it for years with little success. And what do you think iTunes Match is (for large collections)? Right - a subscription service and likely one they're not doing at or below cost. So does that make Apple greedy as well??
Sheesh. Also, I don't fault them for dropping support for earlier versions of hardware and software after certain intervals, but they're also not shy about "encouraging" upgrades in their "buy once and own the license or device" products either.
But Adobe's move has totally pissed me off. I've spent 20 years learning to use their software at the level I want for my own personal projects - but I'm an amateur who may not touch it for months at a time and $50/month is way too steep for what's pocket change to a working pro (as is, to me, the lesser amount for PS alone).
Quote:
Originally Posted by ifij775
I think this is a huge win for Apple in enterprise sales. The only thing that can top this is MS Office for iPad.
As noted above, along with some reasons for the projected timeline, MS has said it's coming.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaipher
So much for Microsoft's latest "iOS Doesn't do Office" commercial.
Now that subscription based software is the red-headed lepper in the room, I hope MS & Adobe suffer the same fate giving way for better suites (like iWork) to shine.
Also, as noted above and below, MS's price (for five licenses) isn't that out of line, and they at least are still still a stand-alone license. But Adobe's going to see a real backlash for sure. I hear they already are. I hope it's enough pushback to get them to reconsider re-offering a boxed version.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rednival
I kind of like Adobe's subscriptions. I need Photoshop from time to time, but not enough to justify the price tag. So $20 for access here and there is sufficient, but ditching licenses altogether was a bad move.
Keep in mind, Microsoft still sells Office the way they always have. Office365 is just a new option. They may go the way of Adobe in the near future, but so far they have not.
Everyone keeps talking like Office365 is the only way to get Office now, and that's completely false. I am not so much defending Microsoft as I am defending accuracy.
Re your last sentence, that makes at least two of us here....
Quote:
Originally Posted by GadgetCanadaV2
Office is Microsoft's last island. They've already sunk their other island with the Xbox One. Windows 8 is at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Windows RT is burning up in the earth's core. Balmer is surfing like an ape on a surfboard having a great old time not realizing the wave will cover his last island.
I simply cannot fathom how far Microsoft has fallen since Balmer has taken charge. The board of directors must be under lock-down to not get rid of this buffoon. At least I respected Bill.
Bill HAS to be the only reason Ballmer's still around (loyalty to an old friend or whatever Ballmer has on him). Still looking up?
What I don't get is how Office apps -- ANY Office app -- matters to iPhone users? What kind of work can you possibly do on a screen the size of a playing card?
Quote:
Originally Posted by v5v
What I don't get is how Office apps -- ANY Office app -- matters to iPhone users? What kind of work can you possibly do on a screen the size of a playing card?
My point exactly, what a waste of time/effort to release a buggy app that only allows you era on iPhone, since editing would be diffcult and If you use on iPad it is not tuned to use full capabilities.
Ballmer you really do know how to drop a flop!