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Is Microsoft Set to Unveil Office for iPad Today?

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Microsoft Office for iPad has been long rumored, and today at an Office event in San Francisco we just might learn more about how Microsoft plans to bring the next version of office to the iPad, Android and of course Surface tablets.

The next version of Microsoft Office, called Office 15, is rumored to arrive this fall and bring several new features in tow.

USA Today reports that Office for iPad and Adobe PDF editing might be built-in to Office 15.

Office for iPad first leaked in February, but Microsoft denied the existence of the app. Rumors again surfaced in May, pointing to a November 10th release date.

Office-for-iPad

Leaked photo of Office for iPad.

One of the most requested features is a version of Office for iPad and Office for Android. While there are plenty of Office for iPad alternatives available, many lack the features of a full blown Microsoft Office implementation and the collaboration corporate users need.

With Surface tablets arriving this fall and in early 2013, Microsoft might want to keep Office confined to these new tablets in order to push Surface in the enterprise, but that may be short-sighted.

Apple sold 11.8 million iPads last quarter and 15.4 million iPads in Q1 2012, marking just a portion of the millions of iPads in use. On the other hand, there are no Surface tablets in use yet.

Even if there is no native version of Office for iPad announced today, Microsoft will likely show off a version of Office ready for touch on Surface and on Windows 8 notebooks, Ultrabooks and tablets.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. dstrauss

    07/16/2012 at 7:06 am

    Continuing to beat the dead horse – if Ballmer and team release (or even hint at) an iOS or Android version of Office BEFORE 1/1/14, they will be out of a job by then as this will tube Windows 8. The ace in the hole for both RT and 8 Pro is the availability of Office; take that away, and why would I EVER buy a Windows RT tablet. Furthermore, if I have real Office on my iPad, what’s the need for a Windows Pro tablet – just buy an iPad to accessorize my Windows 7 cheapo desktop unit.

  2. iwantthatphone

    07/16/2012 at 5:38 pm

    Not unless Apple adds support for physical keyboard and mouse/stylus, which I think will never happen. Tablets are basically an entertainment device that are output centric. As they stand, tablets are horrible for input centric productivity apps like MS Office. I am a heavy MS Office user. I can’t imagine using a tablet to do to office/productivity work no matter what or how Apple or Microsoft market it as. At best, the features will be highly limited and it would be extremely unproductive using fingers to do input centric tasks that are designed for keyboard and mouse. Even if they support mouse and keyboard, I would rather carry a small laptop (with a bigger screen than tablets since productivity apps need a lot real estate on the screen to be efficiently used)

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