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[Blackhead]

Eh, it's the way of things. Traditional OS's are adopting what works well on mobile OS's. And that is something that has worked out pretty well. I see it as a good move that MS & Apple are moving to this way. Makes finding and downloading apps a ton easier for the average consumer. A lot of average consumers download endless malware without realizing it.

If you don't like it you'll probably always have the option of changing your settings anyway.

Android, the most popular mobile OS, doesn't work like that. Malware and privacy compromised apps still end up in the walled garden too so that's not really an advantage.

 

[Cheebo]

Android, the most popular mobile OS, doesn't work like that. Malware and privacy compromised apps still end up in the walled garden too so that's not really an advantage.

I can't see Microsoft and Apple ever operating in the manner of Android though.

 

[Wiktor]

Oh, Microsoft.
And that's why this company will never be no.1 again, because it's not really one company, just bunch of smaller ones bundled under the same name.

 

[jagowar]

To refresh everyone's memory, this is Office on Windows 8 tablets.

I still wonder if they won't port the wp7/ios version to windows 8 and just release it on the windows store. No offense to the office team but they are making a huge mistake by not creating a metro version of office.

Ever since we saw the new office I always saw it as a stopgap until they could fully metroify office.

 

[Nero3000]

I still wonder if they won't port the wp7/ios version to windows 8 and just release it on the windows store. No offense to the office team but they are making a huge mistake by not creating a metro version of office.

Ever since we saw the new office I always saw it as a stopgap until they could fully metroify office.

I'd rather have a step down from the full suite, than a step up from the mobile suite.

Although we have no idea how functional the iOS version is. For all we know, we can just view stuff on it with basic edits.

 

[Cheebo]

Although we have no idea how functional the iOS version is. For all we know, we can just view stuff on it with basic edits.

The very report that revealed this says you can create and save docs, and put them on a cloud service as well. It isn't that gimped.

It's true blue tablet MS Office as far as we can tell from what The Daily is reporting. MS saw the writing on the wall. Enterprise made their pick in the tablet game, and they wanted to make sure they were on board to sell MS Office to them.

 

[Divvy]

Apparently not only has Cheebo has bugged Microsoft's board room, but is also in possession of a crystal ball.

 

[Cheebo]

Apparently not only has Cheebo has bugged Microsoft's board room, but is also in possession of a crystal ball.

Or using the daily's report as well as common sense it's obvious that MS wouldn't release a verision of Office for iPad where you couldn't create and send/save your own documents.

 

[Divvy]

Or using the daily's report as well as common sense it's obvious that MS wouldn't release a verision of Office for iPad where you couldn't create and send/save your own documents.

Yes, that is what I am referring to indeed.

 

[Blackhead]

I'd rather have a step down from the full suite, than a step up from the mobile suite.

Although we have no idea how functional the iOS version is. For all we know, we can just view stuff on it with basic edits.

That would be good enough for most people actually. The most important feature that an official Microsoft Office app can provide is document fidelity; it's been annoying to realize a simple WP is better for office docs than any of the android and iOS powerhouse phones and tablets.

I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon that says WP8 is DOA because iOS is getting Office though. For one thing, WP8 ARM tablets will come bundled with Office and we have no idea how much Microsoft will charge for iOS version. I'd be shocked if it's not at least $100. If Microsoft offers it for cheap in some misguided belief that they are competing with iWork then...

Other WOA selling features to distinguish it from an iPad:

• Side-by-side windows for multitasking
• Multiple user accounts

 

[Damon Bennet]

That would be good enough for most people actually. The most important feature that an official Microsoft Office app can provide is document fidelity; it's been annoying to realize a simple WP is better for office docs than any of the android and iOS powerhouse phones and tablets.

I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon that says WP8 is DOA because iOS is getting Office though. For one thing, W8 ARM tablets will come bundled with Office and we have no idea how much Microsoft will charge for iOS version. I'd be shocked if it's not at least $100. If Microsoft offers it for cheap in some misguided belief that they are competing with iWork then...

Other WOA selling features to distinguish it from an iPad:

• Side-by-side windows for multitasking
• Multiple user accounts

is this confirmed?

 

[Cheebo]

Other WOA selling features to distinguish it from an iPad:

• Side-by-side windows for multitasking
• Multiple user accounts

If Office is reasonbly priced on iOS then well do you think those two bullet points are enough for someone to pick a W8 tablet over a iPad?

 

[giga]

I'd rather have a step down from the full suite, than a step up from the mobile suite.

Although we have no idea how functional the iOS version is. For all we know, we can just view stuff on it with basic edits.

So like Office for WP7?

 

[Cheebo]

Mary Jo Foley has a good piece on this:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft...for-woa-tablets/11952?tag=mantle_skin;content

Microsoft Office for iPad sounds a lot like Office for WOA tablets

By Mary Jo Foley | February 21, 2012, 6:08am PST

Summary: If the Daily.com is right, Microsoft’s Office for iPad could be launching well ahead of Office for Windows 8 on ARM tablets.

The Daily.com — the folks that brought us last year’s rumor that Microsoft planned to deliver Office for the iPad in 2012 — is back with an update.

On February 21, The Daily folks said that they had gotten a brief hands-on with Office on iPad. They also said they expected Office for iPad to be sent to Apple for approval “soon.” The Daily’s Matt Hickey is guessing that the release could be “in the coming weeks.”

What I found interesting in today’s report is that The Daily’s description of Office for iPad sounds a lot like Office 15 for WOA. The coming “suite” will consist of four apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote — and have a Metro-ish look and feel. (OneNote is the only Office app Microsoft currently offers for the iPad.)

Microsoft officials recently said that Windows 8 on ARM (WOA) tablets and PCs would “include” these four Office 15 apps. It’s unclear what “include” means here, and Microsoft officials aren’t saying if these apps will be free, preinstalled, integrated into the OS or made available in some other ways.

(Microsoft officials have not said when they plan to launch Office 15, but my contacts have said that it is on track to be released to manufacturing before the end of this calendar year. We also don’t know whether Microsoft might launch a “tablet” SKU of Office ahead of the rest of the suite in order to get it out there for Windows 8 on ARM — and possibly iPad — tablets.)

Last week, Nomura Research analyst and long-time Microsoft watcher Rick Sherlund said he was highly doubtful Microsoft would do Office for iPad because the Windows team would block it. Indeed, many see Office as one of the few competitive advantages that Microsoft has with the coming Windows 8 slates and tablets.

But Microsoft management doesn’t see things with Windows-colored glasses only any more. The Microsoft Business Division — home to Office — makes more money than Windows client does. And that unit has been dabbling with porting Office apps to non-Microsoft platforms for a while now.

Just last week, when asked whether Microsoft might do Office for iPad, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein said “Microsoft believes it has a ‘great tablet experience with Office’” — and didn’t specify which kinds of tablets he meant.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

With the Apple and cloud alternatives to Microsoft Office, I'm not too excited about the iOS Office release, other than potential SkyDrive implementation. Especially given Apple's App Store requirements to use Documents in the iCloud.

Anyways, counting down till the CP.

 

[Blackhead]

is this confirmed?

Windows on ARM, With Next Version of Office, to Arrive With Windows 8 - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD http://allthingsd.com/20120209/wind...n-of-office-to-arrive-with-rest-of-windows-8/

If Office is reasonbly priced on iOS then well do you think those two bullet points are enough for someone to pick a W8 tablet over a iPad?

Depends on that 'someone' particular needs (OneNote would be my personal killer app). The quality of the W8 tablet hardware and the price of the devices would be a larger factor imo for most people choosing a tablet than the apps available.

 

[Nero3000]

The very report that revealed this says you can create and save docs, and put them on a cloud service as well. It isn't that gimped.

It's true blue tablet MS Office as far as we can tell from what The Daily is reporting. MS saw the writing on the wall. Enterprise made their pick in the tablet game, and they wanted to make sure they were on board to sell MS Office to them.

Creating, saving and putting on a cloud service is basic functionality. What i am talking about is a step up from notepad. WP7 does this, but i would not accept this level of functionality in a Windows 8 "tablet" edition of office. However this level of functionality is a step up from that currently on the iPad if still very basic.

That would be good enough for most people actually. The most important feature that an official Microsoft Office app can provide is document fidelity; it's been annoying to realize a simple WP is better for office docs than any of the android and iOS powerhouse phones and tablets.

I am in absolute agreement on this.

I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon that says WP8 is DOA because iOS is getting Office though. For one thing, WP8 ARM tablets will come bundled with Office and we have no idea how much Microsoft will charge for iOS version. I'd be shocked if it's not at least $100. If Microsoft offers it for cheap in some misguided belief that they are competing with iWork then...

Other WOA selling features to distinguish it from an iPad:

• Side-by-side windows for multitasking
• Multiple user accounts

App store pricing pressures have made the price point unpredictable i think.

So like Office for WP7?

Exactly.

With the Apple and cloud alternatives to Microsoft Office, I'm not too excited about the iOS Office release, other than potential SkyDrive implementation. Especially given Apple's App Store requirements to use Documents in the iCloud.

Anyways, counting down till the CP.

I didn't think that there were requirements to use iCloud. Just that if you want to use iCloud you have to use the App Store.

 

[Blackhead]

Mary Jo Foley has a good piece on this:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft...for-woa-tablets/11952?tag=mantle_skin;content

Update: One of my Twitter buds, Adrian Clark, had an interesting observation about the supposed leaked screen shot of Office on the iPad. The first icon looks like Microsoft's Remote Desktop icon. What if Microsoft's "Office for tablets" SKU is actually like the OnLive Desktop app and is simply these four Office apps running remotely (with some kind of "native" client code downloadable to the individual tablet devices)? Just a pure and total guess, but interesting, nonetheless….

If that Update proves prescient it would be the biggest LOLs on the internet in ages

I am in absolute agreement on this.

App store pricing pressures have made the price point unpredictable i think.

Business apps don't feel the same App store pricing pressures as games and twitter apps. Hell there are Gaffers that are willing to pay $100 for a iOS chinese translation app or $100 for Navigation apps so maybe I'm undervaluing Microsoft Office a bit P I'm sure those Gaffers are in the minority though). The biggest pricing decision I think Microsoft has to make would be whether to use in-app purchases (allowing them the flexibility of charging for future updates) or charge for the app itself as a one-time fee. Enterprise customers would pay however much Microsoft asks for the app and the other casual users who 'can't afford' a $100 Office app were never Microsoft's target audience.

 

[Nero3000]

If that Update proves prescient it would be the biggest LOLs on the internet in ages

Heh i mentioned that in the other thread. But if it was real i suspect it could finally be a proper RDP client (hopefully with full multi touch capability in Win 8. I think they should absolutely do that (a free fully featured RDP client).

Business apps don't feel the same App store pricing pressures as games and twitter apps. Hell there are Gaffers that are willing to pay $100 for a iOS chinese translation app or $100 for Navigation apps so maybe I'm undervaluing Microsoft Office a bit P I'm sure those Gaffers are in the minority though). The biggest pricing decision I think Microsoft has to make would be whether to use in-app purchases (allowing them the flexibility of charging for future updates) or charge for the app itself as a one-time fee. Enterprise customers would pay however much Microsoft asks for the app and the other casual users who 'can't afford' a $100 Office app were never Microsoft's target audience.

Pricing on the app store in general is an interesting topic. I would price office as follows:

One central app with basic WP7 level of viewing and editing: $9.99
Word, Excel, Powerpoint with 90% feature parity with desktop: $39.99 each
Combined: $100

What would you do?

 

[SCHUEY F1]

I wonder if we will just be able to update the Developer Preview to the Consumer Preview?

 

[Jzero]

I wonder if we will just be able to update the Developer Preview to the Consumer Preview?

i doubt it.

 

[Nero3000]

I wonder if we will just be able to update the Developer Preview to the Consumer Preview?

There have been some rumours. However its probably best to clean install.

 

[SCHUEY F1]

There have been some rumours. However its probably best to clean install.

Yeah. I currently have the Dev preview on my laptop, but I want to put the CP on my desktop. Need to make a new partition on my drive though so I can dual boot.

 

[clav]

I wonder if we will just be able to update the Developer Preview to the Consumer Preview?

You can if the design philosophy is true.

 

[Zombie James]

Bwahahaha. We pretty much knew that Office for the iPad would come before Office 15, but it's also a metro style app, whereas WoA users have to use the desktop application.

Are you fucking kidding me? :lol

The Office division Mac BU is cockblocking the Windows division again everyone.

Oh man...

 

[Blackhead]

Heh i mentioned that in the other thread. But if it was real i suspect it could finally be a proper RDP client (hopefully with full multi touch capability in Win 8. I think they should absolutely do that (a free fully featured RDP client).



Pricing on the app store in general is an interesting topic. I would price office as follows:

One central app with basic WP7 level of viewing and editing: $9.99
Word, Excel, Powerpoint with 90% feature parity with desktop: $39.99 each
Combined: $100

What would you do?

If I were a Microsoftie:
One Central App with Word, Excel Powerpoint viewing only: $30
Editing capabilities for all three sub apps: Purchase at Microsoft's website for $100
Skydrive wireless syncing (no iCloud): Subscribe online at Microsoft's website for $5 per month

As a customer I wouldn't pay for that (probably try to get a work purchase or look for a student discount) but it's the sort of ruthless move for Microsoft to pull. Given Apple's rules on pricing for the App Store and managing information with customers it really wouldn't make sense for Microsoft to give up 30% and their direct relationship with enterprise users. I'd of course prefer Microsoft to sell the individual apps at $10 apiece but Microsoft can't be that suicidal.

 

[Windu]

Interesting development. Office does make more money than windows so I wouldn't be surprised by this. And for all we know they might release a metro client for W8 as well.

I still find it hard to believe Microsoft would be willing to give apple a 30% cut of Office sales.

 

[kruis]

Interesting development. Office does make more money than windows so I wouldn't be surprised by this. And for all we know they might release a metro client for W8 as well.

I still find it hard to believe Microsoft would be willing to give apple a 30% cut of Office sales.

Why would MS help sell iPads by making Office for iOS? MS wants to see Windows 8 tablets take off, so it would make sense to put a Metro Office with Skydrive integration on the market. Office for iOS doesn't make sense.

 

[Windu]

Why would MS help sell iPads by making Office for iOS? MS wants to see Windows 8 tablets take off, so it would make sense to put a Metro Office with Skydrive integration on the market. Office for iOS doesn't make sense.

well office is the main money maker at Microsoft. Windows was behind servers last quarter for 3rd biggest division.

Anyway, with windows 8 leveraging their huge desktop, laptop marketshare to get developers on board with metro I still think it will do fine. W8 will have a lot of retail and hardware partners with a lot of developer support. It probably would have been a easier fight if they held back on office for iOS but it was inevitable that it would come to that platform (I thought they would wait till the end of the year).

The huge thing that could happen would be for intel to get going and finally catch up with arm in a few years. Then you could have a arm type tablet but with 20 years of legacy support. That I think would be their biggest advantage.

 

[kehs]

Why would MS help sell iPads by making Office for iOS? MS wants to see Windows 8 tablets take off, so it would make sense to put a Metro Office with Skydrive integration on the market. Office for iOS doesn't make sense.

MS likes money. Office makes money. Office would make them money on ipad.

ergo MS wants Office to sell on ipad to make them money.

People keep looking at these companies like console makers in the 90's. These guys are building platforms not individual products.

 

[Cheebo]

The huge thing that could happen would be for intel to get going and finally catch up with arm in a few years. Then you could have a arm type tablet but with 20 years of legacy support. That I think would be their biggest advantage.

That wouldnt be an advantage. Apple is playing that game too. Look at how they are making OSX mirror iOS more and more. if Intel ever reached that point they would be pretty easily able to shift OSX to an intel iPad without most consumers really even noticing.

 

[Windu]

That wouldnt be an advantage. Apple is playing that game too. Look at how they are making OSX mirror iOS more and more. if Intel ever reached that point they would be pretty easily able to shift OSX to an intel iPad without most consumers really even noticing.

ah yep, well I guess andriod would be left in the dust.

 

[Cheebo]

ah yep, well I guess andriod would be left in the dust.

Yeah, if Intel really caught up and moved past ARM then Android would be out of luck on Tablets. Although I am not sure that would be that big of a blow. Android does great on phones but been a dud on tablets other than stuff like Kindle which is barely Android as is.

 

[brotkasten]

Why would MS help sell iPads by making Office for iOS? MS wants to see Windows 8 tablets take off, so it would make sense to put a Metro Office with Skydrive integration on the market. Office for iOS doesn't make sense.

There is no "Microsoft", it's just one big name. There's the Windows division and the Office division and several other divisions and they all fight against each other, because the more successful division gets obviously more money. It's all politics and a power struggle. This might be a bit hyperbolic, but the office division couldn't care less about the success of windows 8.

For example, early in my tenure, our group of very clever graphics experts invented a way to display text on screen called ClearType. It worked by using the color dots of liquid crystal displays to make type much more readable on the screen. Although we built it to help sell e-books, it gave Microsoft a huge potential advantage for every device with a screen. But it also annoyed other Microsoft groups that felt threatened by our success.

Engineers in the Windows group falsely claimed it made the display go haywire when certain colors were used. The head of Office products said it was fuzzy and gave him headaches. The vice president for pocket devices was blunter: he’d support ClearType and use it, but only if I transferred the program and the programmers to his control. As a result, even though it received much public praise, internal promotion and patents, a decade passed before a fully operational version of ClearType finally made it into Windows.

Another example: When we were building the tablet PC in 2001, the vice president in charge of Office at the time decided he didn’t like the concept. The tablet required a stylus, and he much preferred keyboards to pens and thought our efforts doomed. To guarantee they were, he refused to modify the popular Office applications to work properly with the tablet. So if you wanted to enter a number into a spreadsheet or correct a word in an e-mail message, you had to write it in a special pop-up box, which then transferred the information to Office. Annoying, clumsy and slow.

So once again, even though our tablet had the enthusiastic support of top management and had cost hundreds of millions to develop, it was essentially allowed to be sabotaged. To this day, you still can’t use Office directly on a Tablet PC. And despite the certainty that an Apple tablet was coming this year, the tablet group at Microsoft was eliminated.

...

Internal competition is common at great companies. It can be wisely encouraged to force ideas to compete. The problem comes when the competition becomes uncontrolled and destructive. At Microsoft, it has created a dysfunctional corporate culture in which the big established groups are allowed to prey upon emerging teams, belittle their efforts, compete unfairly against them for resources, and over time hector them out of existence. It’s not an accident that almost all the executives in charge of Microsoft’s music, e-books, phone, online, search and tablet efforts over the past decade have left.

It's all a huge dick waving contest and not only a Microsoft thing. Happens at companies like Intel, Sony, AMD or Nvidia all the time.

 

[PG2G]

And... it's fake.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2814705/microsoft-office-for-ipad-photo-fake

"The Daily story is based on inaccurate rumors and speculation," said a Microsoft spokesperson to us today. The company also told ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley that The Daily's alleged picture of Office running on an iPad "is not a real picture of a Microsoft software product."

 

[Treefingers]

And... it's fake.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2814705/microsoft-office-for-ipad-photo-fake

Somehow that depresses me even more.

 

[dream]

Somehow that depresses me even more.

Cheer up, buttercup. They're saying the picture is fake, not the product.

 

[Treefingers]

Cheer up, buttercup. They're saying the picture is fake, not the product.

Ah awesome then. Will be interesting to see if it actually turns out to be metro styled.

 

[My Sedatives]

I bet they were those prototype WoA tablets in ipad shells.

 

[Divvy]

To be fair, that could be a samsung galaxy tab, you can't really tell just by looking at it.

 

[Cheebo]

Yeah it is looking like the pic was made for the article but Microsoft refuses to comment on whether they have Office for iPad and when they would release it.

 

[My Sedatives]

To be fair, that could be a samsung galaxy tab, you can't really tell just by looking at it.

 

[lunarworks]

If I were a Microsoftie:
One Central App with Word, Excel Powerpoint viewing only: $30
Editing capabilities for all three sub apps: Purchase at Microsoft's website for $100
Skydrive wireless syncing (no iCloud): Subscribe online at Microsoft's website for $5 per month

As a customer I wouldn't pay for that (probably try to get a work purchase or look for a student discount) but it's the sort of ruthless move for Microsoft to pull. Given Apple's rules on pricing for the App Store and managing information with customers it really wouldn't make sense for Microsoft to give up 30% and their direct relationship with enterprise users. I'd of course prefer Microsoft to sell the individual apps at $10 apiece but Microsoft can't be that suicidal.

Selling a document viewer is idiotic. Charging $30 for one is insanity.

You want everyone to be able to see the documents. It's the document creation tools you charge for. Think of the Adobe Reader / Adobe Acrobat thing.

 

[Ghost]

MS has always played the numbers game when it comes to software, all that's new with this situation is that the numbers don't suggest that they should ignore the other platforms.

Amazon & Apple both do the same thing, you don't stop people not on your platform from using your media, you get as many people as you can into your ecosystem, and then you leverage that by saying "If only you had our hardware, all those things you already do would be so much better" and you get people that way.

Trying to say "You cant use office without our tablets" would work in the short term but it would also create a massive target for developers all you'd really be saying is "We want someone to come along and make office irrelevant"

 

[rozay]

Both the iPad and Windows 8 tablets to have office?

I think the real loser is android.

 

[Nero3000]

MS has always played the numbers game when it comes to software, all that's new with this situation is that the numbers don't suggest that they should ignore the other platforms.

Amazon & Apple both do the same thing, you don't stop people not on your platform from using your media, you get as many people as you can into your ecosystem, and then you leverage that by saying "If only you had our hardware, all those things you already do would be so much better" and you get people that way.

Trying to say "You cant use office without our tablets" would work in the short term but it would also create a massive target for developers all you'd really be saying is "We want someone to come along and make office irrelevant"

Except everyone else is years behind in Office software...where are the people who are highly dependent on this software going to go if there is no office on iPad?

 

[My Sedatives]

Both the iPad and Windows 8 tablets to have office?

I think the real loser is android.

There are probably a million products that will get android users by, however yes it would be a loss at the enterprise level.

 

[Windu]

if andriod tablets gain enough marketshare i'm sure microsoft will support it

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Android users have Google Docs, what else would they need?

 

[dLMN8R]

Android users have Google Docs, what else would they need?

Something that doesn't cripple documents created by the software everyone else uses!