Microsoft Office may come to iPad before Windows 8

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Comments

  • Reply 61 of 98
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by StruckPaper View Post

     

    No. This has been in the works since early days of iPad. There have been technical hurdles. And there's the issue of timing. It's complicated when two companies are frenemies.


    I know about that, but the article (fourth or fifth paragraph, depending on if you count the text above the graphic) indicates that MS was going to wait to release Office for iPad until after the Windows version. It states that the higher-ups had a change of heart late last year. That's what I'm referring to.

  • Reply 62 of 98
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post





    I'll spell it out for you...



    It says that it is harder for Microsoft to upgrade a Microsoft app to run on a Microsoft OS/platform -- than it is for Microsoft to port a Microsoft app to an Apple OS/platform!



    It's pretty obvious if you try...

     

    Okay, let's try your reasoning with my example. Google is primarily a Mac and Linux shop. Yet they managed to get the windows version of Chrome out well before the OS X and Linux ports. Does that mean that Google finds the Win32 API and Visual Studio easier to use compared to the Cocoa APIs and Xcode?

  • Reply 63 of 98
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    d4njvrzf wrote: »
    Okay, let's try your reasoning with my example. Google is primarily a Mac and Linux shop. Yet they managed to get the windows version of Chrome out well before the OS X and Linux ports. Does that mean that Google finds the Win32 API and Visual Studio easier to use compared to the Cocoa APIs and Xcode?

    Can you actually come out and say what you are trying to say rather than ask convoluted rhetorical questions?.

    I think you are saying that back then Google developed for Windows first because it had a larger installed base. That's correct and it would explain why MS are developing for iOS.

    But just say your stuff.
  • Reply 64 of 98
    I never used Visual Studio and XCode to a fraction of their potential. Not long ago, I was learning Visual Basic. It's simple and works well.


    What I found is that teachers loved Visual Studio because... They knew Visual Studio. Just like people love excel because they only know excel.

     
    Wrong.
    Then I was using Matlab. The syntax is very similar to Visual Basic, despite different needs. Matlab runs on Unix, there's no need to bootcamp.

     
    Wrong. And barely makes sense.
    I do not even think that Android has the necessary APIs to make something like Facebook paper, especially graphic wise.

     
    Wrong. And you are clearly not qualified to make such an assessment. You're not a programmer. Don't pretend to be one.

    What? I'm not a dev. I just said that I used VS (to learn Visual Basic, how to use algorithms, etc.) before using Matlab (mathematics, analysis) and when I had the opportunity I used XCode. And, as I mentioned, despite using those 3 different programs for 3 very different goals XCode just seemed logical, pleasant, better..

    Then you have the cases os Mac and iOS apps clearly outclassed similar apps of other ecosystems. Why is that? I know a few people that work on that area and they all say the same thing.

    And yes, I doubt Android has the necessary APIs to make something as Facebook paper (did you saw this GUI transitions?) and yes again, a few apps do not take advantage of everything iOS can do so they can be similar on other ecosystems.
  • Reply 65 of 98
    d4njvrzf wrote: »
    I'll spell it out for you...


    It says that it is harder for Microsoft to upgrade a Microsoft app to run on a Microsoft OS/platform -- than it is for Microsoft to port a Microsoft app to an Apple OS/platform!


    It's pretty obvious if you try...

    Okay, let's try with my example. Google is primarily a Mac and Linux shop. Yet they managed to get the windows version of Chrome out well before the OS X and Linux ports. Does that mean that Google finds the Win32 API and Visual Studio easier to use compared to the Cocoa APIs and Xcode?

    I don't think it means that one way or another... there are political reasons, as well as practical reasons, for a company like Google to port its app to a competitive platform.

    I don't know any facts about why Google did what it did...

    I suspect that there was a larger and more receptive [to Chrome] market on Windows... and it one-upped Microsoft.

    In my example, Microsoft is porting their app to a competitive platform before upgrading it on their own platform... That has got to be embarrassing for Microsoft!

    I suspect one reason for this is that the SDK and Developer Tools for iOS are more robust [complete] than those for Windows. I suspect that this is especially true for the Touch UI, Sandboxing and Power Management.

    OSX was totally rethought and reimplemented as iOS for Apple iDevices.

    I have no idea what Microsoft did with their mobile OSes... but it appears that they just attached a widget UI on top of a ARM or x86 version of Windows. And, the ARM version of Windows is emasculated to support only a few, select, Windows apps.
  • Reply 66 of 98
    mkral wrote: »
    No. This has been in the works since early days of iPad. There have been technical hurdles. And there's the issue of timing. It's complicated when two companies are frenemies.

    Respectfully, BS.
  • Reply 67 of 98
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by asdasd View Post



    And hate on MS all you like they do dev tools well.

    Great.  the 1% of the world that develops gets great tools to create crappy apps (really, the problem with MS isn't their dev environment, it's that they had no Dev STYLE).   Apple for all it's limitations... drives developers to a really decent first level UI.   Now there are some magicians who make even Apple's UX stodgy, but at least Apple makes them aim high, and THINK about how the user uses the app. 

  • Reply 68 of 98

    Sorry but I am fine with Pages, iCal, Numbers, & Keynote

  • Reply 69 of 98
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Great.  the 1% of the world that develops gets great tools to create crappy apps (really, the problem with MS isn't their dev environment, it's that they had no Dev STYLE).   Apple for all it's limitations... drives developers to a really decent first level UI.   Now there are some magicians who make even Apple's UX stodgy, but at least Apple makes them aim high, and THINK about how the user uses the app. 

    Visual Studio has nothing to do with design. In fact in large corporations devs have nothing to do with design. That's the product guys, the ux guys and the designers. And Apple gets better, and demands, better quality design although iOS 7 is hardly covered in glory. But nevertheless my point stands. VS>Xcode.
  • Reply 70 of 98
    for all of you spinning around on this... let's get back to first principles.


     


    1) Microsoft is in the business of making money through writing software


    2) To make the most money in the software market it's a simple equation


              $$$ = (number of people wanting your software)*(a $price they think is a value) - ($/hour for developer to write code)*hours*(#ofplatforms to get the max number of people)


     


    Microsoft has always written code to this equation.  It just so happened that for 20 years,  the '#of platforms to get the max number of people' was a median value of 1;-).  But to capture markets and steer users... they wrote to other markets if for nothing else, bait to lure people back to the big money software that MS lived on(a taste, and then reduce to  a semi-useful capability to drive the best functional experience to the Win OS version camp... Think Entourage... or IE for Mac... or the old Excel for Mac.


     


    in corporate marketplace, where demand for Office compatibility is highest (read: will pay more), with 1 main branch, and  4 sub branches of code, you can write for iOS 7 on  the numbers 1 (iPad Air) and 2 (iPad Mini Retina) currently selling tablets, and the numbers 1(5s) and 3(5c) currently selling mobile phone models, as well as the most popular tablets of all time (iPad 2 and by proxy the iPad Mini), and the most popular form factor iPhone (iPhone 4 /4s) of all time. 


     


    Note: the corporate market place... where MS is focused.  They have a better business reason for spending $19.99 for an app on a tablet, and they are an easier sell (sell one exec, and 2000 licenses get bought). They sell to them, they feel the consumer market will surely follow, (minimally to office365.com... which is MS's long term strategy for consumers anyway).  And, iOS consumers have shown they reward good development (or just popular apps).


     


    That's why this rumor isn't about Android, or Surface, or Win Phone, or Samsung.   If you're a product manager, you write to where there is money to be made.


     


    It's a the same reason why google writes apps for iOS...  Why adobe does, why everyone does.


     


     


    To sum up and with apologies to Willie Sutton:


     "Why are you writing software for the iOS system?"


     "because that's where the money is."
  • Reply 71 of 98
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by paxman View Post

     
    And if it does it will be unusable. Excel is like the 'pro' version of Numbers, way too feature heavy to provide a good user experience on an iPad. Numbers is a good iPad spreadsheet but generally speaking, spreadsheets work so much better with a mouse and a larger screen. Excel for iPad will have very limited appeal I reckon, but will probably sell well on name alone.


    Missing features on an iOS app could potentially break an Excel document created with the full desktop version. I have that problem with Numbers. Some Excel files fail to work because various formulas or scripts are not supported by Numbers which renders the document useless. 

  • Reply 72 of 98
    ash471ash471 Posts: 705member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by melgross View Post





    Not for $99 a year it's not.

    Exactly.  MS is going to find out that it is really tough to compete with FREE.  Mark my words, 5 years from now everyone is going to say,  "wow, I never thought Pages and Numbers could supplant Word and Excel."

    Apple is building the right structure into Pages and Numbers.  Now if they will just add the features business people need.  I mean seriously, how hard is it to add things like line numbers and paragraph numbers.  

  • Reply 73 of 98
    ash471ash471 Posts: 705member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vukasika View Post

     

    Sorry but I am fine with Pages, iCal, Numbers, & Keynote


    Pages isn't suitable for business people.  It can't do paragraph numbers, which in my case are required by law sometimes. I hope one day Apple will pull its head out of its ass and add simple features like paragraph numbering.   

  • Reply 74 of 98
    ash471ash471 Posts: 705member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post

     

    Missing features on an iOS app could potentially break an Excel document created with the full desktop version. I have that problem with Numbers. Some Excel files fail to work because various formulas or scripts are not supported by Numbers which renders the document useless. 


    Agreed.  That's the problem with Pages and Numbers.  I still think Apple is doing the right thing by starting over with the build and focusing on iOS.  The hope is that one day Apple will add all the desktop features to the iOS version, in which case Apple will be ripe for taking over Microsoft's market.  Mark my words, MS is in BIG trouble for the long term.  The market is going to be split between Android and iOS and iOS is better for enterprise than Android.  MS is going to be irrelevant one day. 

  • Reply 75 of 98
    Man, they could have made a billion dollars on the App Store by now.
  • Reply 76 of 98
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RickFaced View Post

     

    I was wondering why they stopped calling it Metro. 




    Yup.  A big German retailer (Metro AG) owned it. And if they bargained or fought much, it was never reported:



    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19108952

     

    And now - after a dispute with BSkyB (Britain based satellite TV provider), they've also given up SkyDrive (now OneDrive).

     

    http://www.liveside.net/2013/07/31/microsoft-gives-up-the-skydrive-name-to-bskyb-now-what-2/

     

    Just more examples of how in so many ways during the Ballmer years MS went from world-beating behemoth to Wiley Coyote....

  • Reply 77 of 98
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ash471 View Post

     

    Exactly.  MS is going to find out that it is really tough to compete with FREE.  Mark my words, 5 years from now everyone is going to say,  "wow, I never thought Pages and Numbers could supplant Word and Excel."

    Apple is building the right structure into Pages and Numbers.  Now if they will just add the features business people need.  I mean seriously, how hard is it to add things like line numbers and paragraph numbers.  




    Partly correct, e.g., competing with free.  But unless Apple gets back into releasing applications for other platforms (and iTunes for Windows is what got me to buy my first Mac), they can't "supplant" anybody in the general computing world.



    Native saves to MS formats, though, could make them a force in all the markets they are in - and iDevices are way ahead of Android in the Enterprise market. 



    I know I don't use Pages and Numbers because so many people I exchange files with can't open them, and I won't do the "export to" double file save dance. 

     

    Along those lines, I'm currently going through all my files over the last 20+ years and worry about ANYONE being able to read my thousands of WordPerfect files 10 years from now - including lots of family history and genealogy my descendants will find of interest - if they can access the info, that is....



    My Keynotes are for my use though, and love the program.

  • Reply 78 of 98

    umm.... Office:Mac anyone?

    has both Apple and Microsoft forgotten the Mac OS?

  • Reply 79 of 98
    Originally Posted by Peter Windle View Post

    umm.... Office:Mac anyone?

    has both Apple and Microsoft forgotten the Mac OS?


     

    iWork, baby. Why would Apple care about Office?

  • Reply 80 of 98
    asdasd wrote: »
    Visual Studio has nothing to do with design.

    That much is obvious.
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