Apple Finally Brings iWork Suite to Windows Via iCloud

Thanks to the power of the browser and Apple’s iCloud, the Cupertino, California software-maker is now bringing its consumer-friendly Office competitor, called iWork, to Windows PC. iWork consists of three separate apps: Pages, which is the equivalent to Word for documents, Numbers, which is the equivalent of Excel for spreadsheets, and Keynote, the PowerPoint substitute for presentations.

News of iWork coming to Windows, albeit through a browser, isn’t surprising. Earlier, Apple CEO Tim Cook had hinted during his on stage interview at the All Things D D11 conference that he had no opposition to bringing his company’s visually appealing suites of software to other platforms if there was a demand or need for them.

iWork in the browser works very much in the same way as the desktop app on OS X or the iOS app on mobile. According to Apple, the apps are now available as a developer preview beta and will be available to more users at a later date.

The software will give Microsoft serious competition. iWork is more consumer-friendly and it’s easier for users to format and create attractive documents without needing too much understanding of how to use the software. Additionally, as Microsoft is moving to the cloud, it will need to further optimize for touch.

iWork will work on Apple’s Safari browser, Google’s Chrome browser, and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. With iCloud at its core, all your docs uploaded to the cloud will be synchronized and saved for access across all your devices.