Microsoft Finally Brings Office To The iPad - Polidicks

[IMG]http://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/entry_photo_images/10075367/2014-03-26_23-09-48_verge_super_wide.jpg[/IMG] [QUOTE]Microsoft Office is at last coming to the iPad, marking an important step for the software giant as it races to catch up with the move to mobile. Microsoft general manager Julia White said that as of 11am Pacific Time on Thursday, key Office programs Word, Excel and PowerPoint would be available on the App Store for the iPad. Microsoft’s popular email application, Outlook, was notably absent from the list of available programs. The apps are free but users will require a subscription to Microsoft’s Office 365 service to use them. The announcement marked a move away from Microsoft’s policies under Steve Ballmer to keep software services locked to Windows devices. New CEO Satya Nadella took the stage for the first time at a press event in San Francisco, saying Microsoft wanted to ”empower people to be productive and do more across all devices… Office 365 will be everywhere from here on out.” Microsoft had earlier invited press to an event to hear “some news related to the intersection of cloud and mobile.” Outlook’s absence isn’t a major drawback, Forrester analyst Rob Koplowitz argued, since anyone on Microsoft Exchange could still use Apple AAPL -0.44%’s Mail client. “The big problem has been ‘I want to edit my documents in Word,’” he said. “I want to edit it in the native application. I don’t want to pull it into something else.” Microsoft is betting that distributing Office through the iPad will entice users of the Apple tablet away from popular productivity services like Apple’s iWork and Google GOOG -1.55% Docs, and boost Microsoft’s annual revenues. Analysts at Jefferies have predicted Microsoft could add $4 billion in revenue to its current annual sales of $78 billion by bringing Office to the iPad.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/03/27/microsoft-finally-brings-office-to-the-ipad/[/url]

But Office was one of the main selling points of the Surface..

[QUOTE=Noss;44374259]But Office was one of the main selling points of the Surface..[/QUOTE] NO!!!! *smashes surface on the floor*

[QUOTE=Noss;44374259]But Office was one of the main selling points of the Surface..[/QUOTE] Sounds like Microsoft is deciding it's better to make sure Office's position in market remains uncontested rather than hazarding the alternatives might pick off due to better compatibility just to promote the languishing Surface.

When you area a software/services company, it is always in your best interest in the long run to make your software/services usable across as many platforms as possible. the fact that they are offering iPad users access to their services in no way defeats the purpose of office on windows tablets. the point is to just have more users all around.

[QUOTE=Noss;44374259]But Office was one of the main selling points of the Surface..[/QUOTE] Well if this causes sales of the Surface to drop, then that obviously means their's something wrong with the Surface.

Office is also available online for free if you have a Live account, found out about that recently. Seems to work pretty well, and now I can work on Linux without installing LibreOffice [editline]27th March 2014[/editline] [t]http://i.imgur.com/2kOVAlv.png[/t]

[QUOTE=Noss;44374259]But Office was one of the main selling points of the Surface..[/QUOTE] I thought the main point of the surface was that you were getting a tablet that wasn't an unproductive crock of shit.

[QUOTE=Antdawg;44374691]Well if this causes sales of the Surface to drop, then that obviously means their's something wrong with the Surface.[/QUOTE] I'm not denying that the Surface is a poor product (in terms of the OS's infancy anyway). I strongly believed they'd have been better off replacing the RT model with an Atom running full Windows. I just think that this seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot, providing the iPad with yet more business functionality.

[QUOTE=Noss;44374929]I'm not denying that the Surface is a poor product (in terms of the OS's infancy anyway). I strongly believed they'd have been better off replacing the RT model with an Atom running full Windows. I just think that this seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot, providing the iPad with yet more business functionality.[/QUOTE] "The apps are free but users will require a subscription to Microsoft’s Office 365 service to use them." "Analysts at Jefferies have predicted Microsoft could add $4 billion in revenue to its current annual sales of $78 billion by bringing Office to the iPad." They might damage their "exclusiveness" but they're not damaging their business

[QUOTE=rilez;44374983]"The apps are free but users will require a subscription to Microsoft’s Office 365 service to use them." "Analysts at Jefferies have predicted Microsoft could add $4 billion in revenue to its current annual sales of $78 billion by bringing Office to the iPad." They might damage their "exclusiveness" but they're not damaging their business[/QUOTE] But it does hinder their ability to expand in to the tablet/mobile market - something that is worth potentially much more than $4 billion. I just think that whilst Windows RT is still in its infancy it wouldn't hurt to have some exclusive Microsoft applications until it can stand up by itself and become a real rival to Android and iOS.

They really should focus on their Pro model anyway - full Windows on a tablet is a much bigger selling point than exclusivity of some RT apps. Personally, I think RT will fail no matter what they do. There's just not enough app support to make it worth the price.

[QUOTE=rilez;44375354]They really should focus on their Pro model anyway - full Windows on a tablet is a much bigger selling point than exclusivity of some RT apps. Personally, I think RT will fail no matter what they do. There's just not enough app support to make it worth the price.[/QUOTE] I agree with you, I'd like to see Microsoft bring an end to RT, and I suspect that they will be doing a couple of years down the line. It's a bad product and only serves to confuse customers. However, if they aren't planning on ending RT (which wouldn't surprise me with the number of bad decisions they've been making in recent years) then giving Office to iOS will only serve to hurt RT's market share further.

[QUOTE=Noss;44375169]But it does hinder their ability to expand in to the tablet/mobile market - something that is worth potentially much more than $4 billion. I just think that whilst Windows RT is still in its infancy it wouldn't hurt to have some exclusive Microsoft applications until it can stand up by itself and become a real rival to Android and iOS.[/QUOTE] I think the reason a usable version of Office is on the iPad now is because MS knows that they aren't making a dent in the tablet market any time soon. Might as well sell the software then. I'm willing to bet that if MS tablets had taken off then this release wouldn't be happening at all. If you're MS how much more convincing do you need that no, your tablets aren't going to be any more successful than they are now?

[QUOTE=Sam Za Nemesis;44375612]Make desktop apps able to be compiled and ran without hacks and remove Secure Boot and it'd get some nice chunk of the market[/QUOTE] Secure boot is a crock of shit

The Surface Pro 2 is a really neat device, super poweful and full featured windows in a tablet frame with great battery life Whats not to like there? The Ipad and iOS have more apps but to be honest the Surface Pro sounds so much more useful for students than an iOS device

[QUOTE=Noss;44375169]But it does hinder their ability to expand in to the tablet/mobile market - something that is worth potentially much more than $4 billion. I just think that whilst Windows RT is still in its infancy it wouldn't hurt to have some exclusive Microsoft applications until it can stand up by itself and become a real rival to Android and iOS.[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure Microsoft know what they are doing, more so than some random from the Internet.

[QUOTE=Antdawg;44377128]I'm pretty sure Microsoft know what they are doing, more so than some random from the Internet.[/QUOTE] well obviously not if you've had a look out how RTs been doing for the past 2 years

Ew, productivity on a tablet.

I'm pretty sure this is indirectly going to cannibalize their operating system sales, at least from a consumer standpoint. Businesses probably won't be affected as they use programs tablets don't run so they'll still need good ol' Windows. And of course high-end gamers, audio/video editors and people who need Windows to run certain programs are still going to need the OS. Everyone else just uses tablets now, as they rarely do more than browse the internet, email, and play mobile games. The main reason the average consumer who doesn't have a tablet isn't buying one now is probably because they're afraid to put effort into learning a new device since they're used to their current one. With Windows XP losing support, people will eventually upgrade to a new device when their machine fails, and if they can get Microsoft Office on a tablet, then unless they do their taxes on their computer or have a work-related program to use they have no reason to get a laptop or desktop as tablets like the iPad are incredibly easy to use and offer everything the average consumer needs. I know there are alternatives to Office on the iPad like Office2 HD and such but most people don't know that, and from my experience with people I've met during my job it's factored into their purchase of a laptop over a tablet. With Office on the iPad it's going to be obvious which device to get. It's a risky move to put Office on the iPad. What average soccer mom, teenager or tech-inexperienced guy is going to buy a Microsoft laptop, desktop or tablet when everyone else has iPads? It's not going to have more features, because the iPad does internet, movies, music, email, and pictures, and that's all they need. Most consumers only buy Android tablets because they're cheaper. Microsoft is going to make a ton of money selling this but it may hurt their tablet and OS sales.

[QUOTE=Elecbullet;44377292]Ew, productivity on a tablet.[/QUOTE] Get a portable keyboard. Bam. Productivity on a tablet. It's basically all the 10" tablets are actually useful for, too big for casual web browsing, to small for sharing media to groups. About the right size to display documents on however.

[QUOTE=Noss;44374259]But Office was one of the main selling points of the Surface..[/QUOTE] Surface RT, not the pro, pro never had office bundled with it

People should just use libreoffice instead.

This is just a blatant attempt to push more people into paying a subscription for Office. A subscription. FOR OFFICE. Fuck that right in the ass.

[QUOTE=Azarath;44377979]People should just use libreoffice instead.[/QUOTE] I personally prefer Google Docs :v: I'm not joking

[QUOTE=Noss;44374259]But Office was one of the main selling points of the Surface..[/QUOTE] Surface is a bit more than that, you can turn it into a "real" windows. [QUOTE][IMG]http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/JD6wNspw1ts/maxresdefault.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE] [editline] [/editline] Does not work for Surface RT because it's using a ARM CPU, else you have to emulate the app (or something like that)