Should Microsoft Put Office On the iPad? 402
theodp writes "Microsoft is working on a touch-friendly version of Office for Windows 8, writes GeekWire's Todd Bishop. But what about Microsoft Office on the iPad? 'The decision,' Bishop says, 'will say a lot about Microsoft's priorities in this new era. The company can give Windows 8 a boost if it makes Office exclusive to Windows-based tablets. But that's also a risk. The iPad's momentum not only in the home but in the workplace opens the door for Office alternatives to take hold on the Apple tablet, posing a challenge to Microsoft Office.' Over at Minimal Mac, Patrick Rhone feels Microsoft has bigger problems than the lack of Office apps for iOS and Android. 'Like the curtain finally falling from the Wizard of Oz to find just a small, frail, man pretending to be far more powerful and relevant than he really was,' writes Rhone, 'Microsoft's biggest miss was allowing the world to finally see the truth behind the big lie — they were not needed to get real work done. Or anything done, really. And that will be what ultimately kills them.' Perhaps, but BusinessInsider — which finds it just can't quit Excel — also makes a case for why Microsoft should put Office on every platform. Speaking of the future of Office, did you ever notice how people use MS-Word to convince people to use Google Docs?"
Would *I* use it? (Score:4, Insightful)
No way. Typing on my iPad is one of the most awkward things I do in a day, but I don't blame the device. There are people in my same department at work that I have seen knock out multipage emails on one as if sitting at a regular computer.
I dunno, I just can't do it so Office would be worthless. My iPad is basically a youtube, game device, photoviewer, and mastubatory aid (porn).
I guess I'm a retard
I'm not sure I see the need (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess I can see the attraction of running powerpoint presentations from the iPad, but Office in general, is there a point?
I can't imagine you'd want to be doing a lot of text input on it, would you?
This in mind, it seems to me the whole thing is a non-story. MS is now an also-ran in the phone biz, and has no footprint at all in the tablet market. Office or no office, it doesn't seem to matter.
because viewing PDFs and playing Angry Birds (Score:0, Insightful)
Constitutes "real work" now, it seems.
No one with an actual job is relying solely on post-pc devices to do their "real work".
Ok with Apple (Score:4, Insightful)
Office supports all kinds of scripting. Would Apple allow apps with such scripting support on it's app store? Would Apple allow the iDevice Office version access MS online services? Unless they've changed pretty recently, I'm under impression that anything like that is a big no-no with Apple, apps which even hint at having that kind of functionality simply rejected.
If Apple would not make exception with MS, then the iDevice MS Office would be seriously crippled, so much so that MS might be right in deciding it does not want to do that. MS is trying to develop office into a broad online offering, and I could see how Apple would not accept that on their devices.
Of course there's a different controversy of just how much scripting should office application documents support in the first place, but I'll not get into that here...
Re:Would *I* use it? (Score:0, Insightful)
No way. Typing on my iPad is one of the most awkward things I do in a day, but I don't blame the device.
Of course not. That would be questioning the Holy Apple, and you don't question the Holy Apple. Instead you do mental gymnastics to avoid admitting any flaw.
Just an Apple fan there... (Score:3, Insightful)
That actually sounds like someone talking about Apple more than Microsoft.
Truth is they just want MS Office on Apple products because tablets will continue to be irrelevant to a large part of the world unless they have those apps. Also, the people trying to use them for business think what's missing is Office, but when they get it, they'll be missing the keyboard too, and probably the mouse.
SlashFUD (Score:3, Insightful)
'Microsoft's biggest miss was allowing the world to finally see the truth behind the big lie — they were not needed to get real work done.
Only on slashdot is Microsoft Office dying or not needed any more. Back in the real world; the place many here I'm sure must forget exists or something, Office 2010 is selling better than any other MS Office suite before - http://www.techspot.com/news/44268-microsoft-office-2010-turns-one-is-the-fastest-selling-version-ever.html [techspot.com].
MSFT aren't the evil machine they used to be, kids. Move on.....move on......
Office 365 (Score:3, Insightful)
Microsoft is not stupid. The future of office is not on the desktop, it is in the cloud. This is why they made Office 365, which works on any modern web browser, including the iPad.
There is not need for a "native app" for an office suite. If anything, just do what 50% of developers already to and wrap the website in a "native app" UI so that it shows up on the appstore.
Excel on a tablet?? (Score:4, Insightful)
Okay, I can understand wanting some kind of rudimentary spreadsheet viewing/editing application for tablet/mobile devices, but Excel is a particularly good example of a program that really needs a physical, full-size keyboard. There are numerous key combinations and shortcuts that are absolutely essential for efficient usage of Excel. If you're doing any kind of spreadsheet work, you need a keyboard with a numeric keypad, cursors, and Ctrl/Alt/Shift/F-number keys. Tapping an on-screen keyboard just isn't going to cut it, especially when that keyboard takes up valuable screen space that would otherwise be used to display more cells.
In a way, Excel is like Photoshop in that regard. Keyboard shortcuts are huge. These are applications that have evolved their present UI design to suit a desktop computing environment to the point where it would be incredibly cumbersome to adapt it to a tablet device with no mouse, no physical keyboard, and limited screen size. I'm not saying it couldn't be done, but if you did actually manage to accomplish the task, users would almost have to completely relearn how to use the application. Nor am I saying that one should even attempt to design a full-featured version of Excel for tablet devices. My view is that tablets really are best suited for content consumption for most kinds of quantitative or visual data. It has nothing to do with whether we're talking about an iPad or some other tablet. The essence of what Excel does, and how the user creates spreadsheets in it, is something I don't think could translate well to such a device. And in light of this, I think the question of whether some incarnation of Office should be developed for iOS seems to be besides the point.
Re:Microsoft already is (Score:4, Insightful)
Office file formats are not going anyway. I got modded down here a few times saying I can't leave Office because I can not guarantee that my resume will look the same on someone elses computer running Office if I make it under LibraOffice. For that reason it will stay forever in business and MS Office is not going anyway as suppliers and customers will think you are incompentent if you send a document that looks funny on their computer.
If you can't figure out how to make a pdf then maybe they're right.
Re:I'm not sure I see the need (Score:4, Insightful)
This in mind, it seems to me the whole thing is a non-story. MS is now an also-ran in the phone biz, and has no footprint at all in the tablet market. Office or no office, it doesn't seem to matter.
But Microsoft is still a software company and MS Office is a de facto standard in most of the corporate world. Can they afford to ignore the millions of tablets that are finding their way into offices and everyday use? If a palatable alternative reigns supreme on tablets, will companies convert to the alternative in lieu of MS Office on the desktop to insure document compatibility?
Metro is going to be a disruptive change for a lot of companies, and if they're going to go through the growing pains of changing user interfaces and how they interact with devices, would moving away from MS/Windows/Office be much more effort? In the short term, yes. But in the long run?
Re:Would *I* use it? (Score:5, Insightful)
And this is a silly point. I was going to buy a BT keyboard for my ipad on several occasions but every time I had it in my hands and walking to the register I put it back because the words in my head kept ringing..."If you need to type that much, just grab the laptop you always have with you anyways"
This is very true - for those that have laptops. As tablets become more powerful and more popular, individuals and companies will have choices to make: laptop, netbook and/or tablet? It probably won't be one of each (and may only be one if budgets continue to shrink). Some Android tablets already offer video out options, and it's not farfetched to see a tablet replacing a netbook or laptop when hooked to a docking station for some users.
It's not all about the right now. In 2, 3 or maybe 5 years, things will be very different (just look back a few years and see how far tablets and smartphones have come). I don't subscribe to the 'everything on the cloud' philosophy, but the 'cloud' isn't going away and many companies are embracing it for file & data storage. The cloud is a solution to some of the problems created by portable devices. Microsoft needs to find its place in all of this, and better pick soon because in a few years it won't be as easy to get traction, marketshare or mindshare.
Re:Microsoft already is (Score:3, Insightful)
If you think it is ok to send a pdf maybe they are right about you instead?
That is a no no in business as HR and management love to highlight and edit cover letters and resumes back and forth in internal emails. Ask any job coach or HR person? Something not editable is quickly deleted. Also look around at various job sites and internal resume submission apps on corporate websites? They all want Word docs. Sometimes they will request a PDF, but almost always will require a Word doc. Some will accept plain text too. But if you do that the formatting will be lost and you will look incompetent and it will go right in the virtual trash bin.
Re:I'm not sure I see the need (Score:2, Insightful)
I think the question is more whether anyone will care if they do release it. I think probably not.
Remember the old adage: no one ever got fired for buying IBM? In the current corporate culture it's pretty much the same for buying Microsoft.
Really?
Everyone's happy with Win 7, and IIRC Win 8 has a traditional mode, so I'm not really seeing it on the desktop, and on the tablet or mobile, MS is a non-entity.
Except that 'Metro' isn't just Windows 8, it is the future UI paradigm for Windows/Microsoft. IE 10 will have two versions, Metro and 'traditional'. I don't think MS is going to continue to create two versions in the future. Windows 9 will take things one steep further - probably a compatibility mode or VM for traditional applications - or perhaps eliminate traditional 'windowed' apps all together. Windows 8 is a transitional product release for Microsoft.
MS will not support traditional apps on the WOA platform, nor do they on the existing Windows Phone platform. I don't know if they'll be supporting traditional apps on any Windows tablet OS that runs on x86 or Acorn processors, but it's an awful lot of work to maintain separate OS products. I can see them eliminating traditional apps on future tablet OS products for x86 or Acorn (if they support them at all on the Windows 8 tablet offering).
Re:I'm not sure I see the need (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, but I'm not sure that applies where tablets are concerned. It doesn't seem to help them in the corporate phone market.
In which case I see a lot of people moving on from windows, especially in the enterprise, or doing as they did with Vista and just not bothering to move.
Re:Would *I* use it? (Score:0, Insightful)
What a myopic and short sighted view of the world. I use my iPad all day every day and for everything. The only thing I retain a Mac for is to serve as a central storage/syncing hub. Nothing else. Literally. And yes I do "real work" for a living.
Sheesh. Get past your own self absorbed view of the world and take a look around. You've already lost this argument. And when the iPad inexorably continues to evolve, along with iOS, and increasingly clever and capable apps, your argument will deflate like so much hot air.
Re:Ah, Excel (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:woo! (Score:2, Insightful)
I have been a *NIX developer for years (linux, xenix, aix, smelly SCO and Netware which had an SDK very near to Unix) and I think only server software development worth on these OSes. We developed banking and network management software and both were very successful. But any desktop we did was a failure.
Re:woo! (Score:4, Insightful)
WTF for? I mean, who is going to use it? Who would ever pay for it? Why would I want it? Maybe Suse would put it in a default installation, but I haven't used Suse in a long time either.
Re:Would *I* use it? (Score:4, Insightful)
Nope, I have an ipad 2 and they're nonfunctional. I wish slashdot would change the interface to make them usable on touchscreens.
I wish Slashdot would change the interface to make it just plain useable.
Re:Would *I* use it? (Score:4, Insightful)