For anyone who writes for a living, this update is significant and very compelling. Office on iPad has been extremely easy to use and offers a ton of features. If OneDrive would just stop losing, corrupting, and failing to sync files, the $7 a month cost would feel like a steal. IF MS can continue getting its act together by offering real value and stability, I think they could quickly get themselves back into the game.
But that's always been the problem (one of the many) with MS (or a mess): IF everything worked right, or "just worked".
Reminds me of the old joke: if we had eggs, we'd make bacon and eggs, but we are short on bacon.
But that's always been the problem (one of the many) with MS (or a mess): IF everything worked right, or "just worked".
Reminds me of the old joke: if we had eggs, we'd make bacon and eggs, but we are short on bacon.
Agreed. Maybe Microsoft's new leadership will place a higher priority on quality and interoperability. Microsoft could be so much more. I may be in the great minority here, but I'd love to see Office on iOS capable of syncing to *any* cloud. SpiderOak is calling...
Updated my office mobile to these standalone apps. Works like a charm. Dropbox or O365 not really required. Saves locally in iPhone. Can print and send a PDF too. I would say pretty decent apps which actually work and meet the mobile needs. Best part is I can see the track changes which was a real pain point for me before.
Agreed. Maybe Microsoft's new leadership will place a higher priority on quality and interoperability. Microsoft could be so much more. I may be in the great minority here, but I'd love to see Office on iOS capable of syncing to *any* cloud. SpiderOak is calling...
Are you happy with it? I was eyeing to buy discounted yearly subscription for it.
I'm sorely but if you really need the features Pages doesn't compare to Word, and Numbers is in no way an Excel replacement. Office 2010 and 2013 are actually quite nice.
They're transitioning to become a services company, not just a software company.
So.... How does a services company make money giving away their most noteworthy service for free?
So.... How does a services company make money giving away their most noteworthy service for free?
Office is hardly a service. Azure is a service. OneDrive is a service. Outlook for enterprise is a service. Enterprises are where the money is, not the low end consumer market.
Office is hardly a service. Azure is a service. OneDrive is a service. Outlook for enterprise is a service. Enterprises are where the money is, not the low end consumer market.
Fair enough and a good point. So in this case Office would be the loss leader to help get you committed to their ecosystem, and to keep their name in the public mind.
Fair enough and a good point. So in this case Office would be the loss leader to help get you committed to their ecosystem, and to keep their name in the public mind.
Pretty much. Enterprises will likely still pay a fee for the full version of Office on iOS, and prosumers as well. This move today generates good will amongst users who were never going to pay for it (the ones who've left one star reviews).
WordPerfect was years late to the DOS-to-Windows transition and Word took over. Now Word is years late to the Windows-to-iOS transition with a worthy competitor firmly entrenched. Not saying Office will disappear but the parallels are interesting.
Office is hardly a service. Azure is a service. OneDrive is a service. Outlook for enterprise is a service. Enterprises are where the money is, not the low end consumer market.
Yep, that's where their bread and butter is. And I cannot see them being seriously challenged there for the time being, so even if they are not making more money than Apple and Google (are they?), I believe that their income is more secure than anyone else in the industry. Even if they'd only keep their volume licensing, subscriptions and Office365 as their income sources, they would still be a force to reckon.
This free Office for iOS and Android is pretty much like iTunes on Windows. Introduction, invitation, whatever... to their ecosystem. Unlimited OneDrive storage, full editing features set... will be money making points, this is just a sign pointing in that direction.
Are you happy with it? I was eyeing to buy discounted yearly subscription for it.
SpiderOak? I've only used it for a few days, but it's as easy to use as any other cloud service and I haven't had anything unexpected happen with my data. The added security is great (assuming what's being said about it is true), as I work with a lot of files that require copyright protection. Still, all I want from ANY cloud service is a column view of my file structure. Seriously, is that too much to ask? :P
Office 365 is one of the best productivity services around. It's also a steal at $9.99 a month (or just splurge and find a year of it on Amazon for around $60) with unlimited cloud storage, as well as 5 licenses for the most up to date Office on any platform.
Yes Apple is in the game with iCloud Drive and iWork. The issue is that while iWork is free, the iCloud Drive has expensive storage options. And even if you're fine with just iWork and the smaller cloud storage for free, it just isn't supported by enough (any) corporations. How am I suppose to open and edit my spreadsheets, word docs and other stuff from work if I only have iWork solutions?
No one one is saying that MS isn't offering a very valuable proposition here (and they have SJ to thank for that, because finally with the iPad's touch interface, they became creative and de-cluttered their product suite, they 've done a very nice job too), although you are missing the point of iCloud, and it's not simply a drive, it's a full service.
The problem with microsoft is that unless some third party (see apple) drags them kicking and screaming via competition to the 21st century, 14 years after the fact, they are willing to remain backward, hence the continued ie mess, hence no native preview app for windows, nor a decent music player, hence the ludicrous touch (smudge) your laptop screen (and augment your carpal tunnel syndrome) tiled os, hence the parody of the coming and going of the start button, the kickstand, the awful keyboard with their tablets, the awfully designed and poorly executed "band", etc, etc.
They can't get any awards for finally bringing their productivity suite, their main asset, up to 2014 standards, following trends in cloud and subscription services, and piggybacking on a great touch os and existing apple apps, to create something that's of value and with a modicum of functional beauty and taste, that they have repeatedly evaded so far as if it were some wretched curse to avoid through out all their corporate history.
wake up call and MSFT smells the coffee..maybe too late unfortunately. I have always said Ballmer did unrepairable harm to MSFT. He was Apple's secret mole to destroy MSFT from within. He should not be allowed to run anything...except sports teams. But than again I hate professional sports teams and their crazy owners.
Comments
For anyone who writes for a living, this update is significant and very compelling. Office on iPad has been extremely easy to use and offers a ton of features. If OneDrive would just stop losing, corrupting, and failing to sync files, the $7 a month cost would feel like a steal. IF MS can continue getting its act together by offering real value and stability, I think they could quickly get themselves back into the game.
But that's always been the problem (one of the many) with MS (or a mess): IF everything worked right, or "just worked".
Reminds me of the old joke: if we had eggs, we'd make bacon and eggs, but we are short on bacon.
But that's always been the problem (one of the many) with MS (or a mess): IF everything worked right, or "just worked".
Reminds me of the old joke: if we had eggs, we'd make bacon and eggs, but we are short on bacon.
Agreed. Maybe Microsoft's new leadership will place a higher priority on quality and interoperability. Microsoft could be so much more. I may be in the great minority here, but I'd love to see Office on iOS capable of syncing to *any* cloud. SpiderOak is calling...
Not at par with iWork though. Still.
Agreed. Maybe Microsoft's new leadership will place a higher priority on quality and interoperability. Microsoft could be so much more. I may be in the great minority here, but I'd love to see Office on iOS capable of syncing to *any* cloud. SpiderOak is calling...
Are you happy with it? I was eyeing to buy discounted yearly subscription for it.
I'm sorely but if you really need the features Pages doesn't compare to Word, and Numbers is in no way an Excel replacement. Office 2010 and 2013 are actually quite nice.
They're transitioning to become a services company, not just a software company.
So.... How does a services company make money giving away their most noteworthy service for free?
Office is hardly a service. Azure is a service. OneDrive is a service. Outlook for enterprise is a service. Enterprises are where the money is, not the low end consumer market.
Fair enough and a good point. So in this case Office would be the loss leader to help get you committed to their ecosystem, and to keep their name in the public mind.
Pretty much. Enterprises will likely still pay a fee for the full version of Office on iOS, and prosumers as well. This move today generates good will amongst users who were never going to pay for it (the ones who've left one star reviews).
Yep, that's where their bread and butter is. And I cannot see them being seriously challenged there for the time being, so even if they are not making more money than Apple and Google (are they?), I believe that their income is more secure than anyone else in the industry. Even if they'd only keep their volume licensing, subscriptions and Office365 as their income sources, they would still be a force to reckon.
This free Office for iOS and Android is pretty much like iTunes on Windows. Introduction, invitation, whatever... to their ecosystem. Unlimited OneDrive storage, full editing features set... will be money making points, this is just a sign pointing in that direction.
Are you happy with it? I was eyeing to buy discounted yearly subscription for it.
SpiderOak? I've only used it for a few days, but it's as easy to use as any other cloud service and I haven't had anything unexpected happen with my data. The added security is great (assuming what's being said about it is true), as I work with a lot of files that require copyright protection. Still, all I want from ANY cloud service is a column view of my file structure. Seriously, is that too much to ask? :P
Office 365 is one of the best productivity services around. It's also a steal at $9.99 a month (or just splurge and find a year of it on Amazon for around $60) with unlimited cloud storage, as well as 5 licenses for the most up to date Office on any platform.
Yes Apple is in the game with iCloud Drive and iWork. The issue is that while iWork is free, the iCloud Drive has expensive storage options. And even if you're fine with just iWork and the smaller cloud storage for free, it just isn't supported by enough (any) corporations. How am I suppose to open and edit my spreadsheets, word docs and other stuff from work if I only have iWork solutions?
No one one is saying that MS isn't offering a very valuable proposition here (and they have SJ to thank for that, because finally with the iPad's touch interface, they became creative and de-cluttered their product suite, they 've done a very nice job too), although you are missing the point of iCloud, and it's not simply a drive, it's a full service.
The problem with microsoft is that unless some third party (see apple) drags them kicking and screaming via competition to the 21st century, 14 years after the fact, they are willing to remain backward, hence the continued ie mess, hence no native preview app for windows, nor a decent music player, hence the ludicrous touch (smudge) your laptop screen (and augment your carpal tunnel syndrome) tiled os, hence the parody of the coming and going of the start button, the kickstand, the awful keyboard with their tablets, the awfully designed and poorly executed "band", etc, etc.
They can't get any awards for finally bringing their productivity suite, their main asset, up to 2014 standards, following trends in cloud and subscription services, and piggybacking on a great touch os and existing apple apps, to create something that's of value and with a modicum of functional beauty and taste, that they have repeatedly evaded so far as if it were some wretched curse to avoid through out all their corporate history.