Microsoft Office for iPad expected to arrive on March 27

[Himanshu Arora]

Microsoft has been sending out invites for a press briefing set for March 27th in San Francisco. If rumors are to be believed, it could be Satya Nadella's first press event, and the newly appointed CEO will reportedly use the opportunity to take the wraps off Microsoft's Office for iPad.

Microsoft has been working on the software for quite some time now. Back in October last year, then CEO Steve Ballmer officially confirmed that a version of Office is in the works for the iPad. Just last month, there were reports that Office for iPad is scheduled to launch during the first half of 2014.

"According to several sources of mine, Microsoft's latest timetable calls for the company to finally introduce the long-rumored Microsoft Office for iPad suite of applications before the end of March 2014", says ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, adding that the March 27th event could be an ideal time and place.

Tom Warren from The Verge also hints at the possibility. The iPad variant will be similar to the one that exists for the iPhone, and will require an Office 365 subscription for editing, he says. A basic Office 365 subscription starts at $6.99/month and allows users to install Office on one PC (or Mac) and one tablet.

Nadella is also expected to discuss the company's "mobile first, cloud first" strategy at the event. Last month, the Redmond, Washington-based company rebranded its online Office Web Apps to Office Online in an effort to make the product less confusing to consumers. Just yesterday, the software giant released its OneNote software for Mac, and made all its versions available free of charge.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/56030-microsoft-office-for-ipad-expected-to-arrive-on-march-27.html

 

[Guest]

So Android fanbois, this good for ya? LOL

Software>hardware

 

[darkzelda]

So Microsoft releases an Ipad version of Office and doesn't have a metro version for Windows 8, what a way of bringing people to their new interface...

 

[Jad Chaar]

I am quite excited for this. I now see a reason to choose an iPad over a Surface when I purchase a new tablet soon.

 

[Guest]

I am quite excited for this. I now see a reason to choose an iPad over a Surface when I purchase a new tablet soon.

The mind boggles at this decision! Why, is the first question, the second would be are you a conformist? Now before you, or anyone else has a seizure, I do believe IPads have a use, are fairly usable, and are quaint... However, the Surface Pro is by far the better choice when comparing robustness in device capabilities, and has more than extremely light processing tasks in hand. Surface RT, maybe not so much, but still refreshing to be different, a very good motivator in my opinion, instead of having one of the many, many, and I do mean MANY Apple or Android devices out there. Besides the Surface, both of them, have a pleasant design comparable to any other tablet, I mean you can only reshape a rectangle so much after all, kind of hard to stuff that up.

 

[Railman]

So Microsoft releases an Ipad version of Office and doesn't have a metro version for Windows 8, what a way of bringing people to their new interface...

Well this sounds like a cut down version of Office and the MS version would be Office RT. Why would you want to run a cut down version of Office on a PC or Surface Pro?