“Microsoft may want to rethink its hesitation about bringing its Office applications to the iPad,” Nick Wingfield reports for The New York Times.
“On Tuesday, Apple made its own rival suite of productivity apps, iWork, free to anyone who buys new Mac computers and the company’s mobile devices, including iPads,” Wingfield reports. “The apps are free to people who buy new hardware from Apple, but not to the huge numbers of people who already own Apple devices. People who already have iWork can upgrade their apps free, too. (Technically, people who bought iOS 7 devices Sept. 1 or later, or a Mac on Oct. 1 or later, will also qualify.)”
Wingfield reports, “Microsoft has developed an iPad version of Office — but for reasons that remain unclear, the company has not released it. The company might want to give its Surface tablets an advantage since those devices come with copies of Office… Apple also took aim at the fees that Microsoft charges people who upgrade from one major release of Windows to another. Apple said existing Mac users can upgrade to the new version of the operating system, Mavericks, for free, waiving the $20 to $30 fee it has charged for such upgrades in the past.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Take your time Microsloth.
The longer Microsoft dithers, the more people wake up to the fact that Office is not necessary. iPad is taking the enterprise by storm. No Microsoft Office needed. Take your time, dummies. – MacDailyNews, April 10, 2013
Brilliant on Apple’s part, truly brilliant. I was on the fence on upgrading–my Macbook Pro is a few years old, and upgrading it to Mavericks was not a top priority even if it was just $20. But providing it for free made it a no-brainer. Not to mention, I’m shocked that Pages, etc., are all free upgrades. Apple has really hit it out of the park on this one!
Give credit where it’s due:
This is a Tim Cook move of brilliance and astute timing worthy of every superlative praise.
I have all faith in Mr. Cook, and have ever since I simmered down after my initial anger when they announced that cockamamy take-on-debt-for-debt’s-own-sake buyback plan. Has everything Apple’s done so far under his watch been perfect? No, hell no. But is it as bad as the Cook-haters make it out to be? I repeat: hell no! And I doubt anyone could do better in his position.
It was a strategic move, no doubt. It’s a gambit that continues to back Microsoft into a corner. And it’s another blow to the solar plexus as the befuddled giant stands punch-drunk from the collapse of its mobile counterattack. Spitting out teeth, it teeters precariously until the bell. Fire the goddam coach, get someone in here that knows pugilism! What’s that you say? Nobody wants the job? Didn’t we bribe the referees? What went wrong? Get up, it’s the next round already. Somebody, anybody, hit the fire alarm!
Pure Poetry
Both Google and Apple are eviscerating Microsoft’s hegemony over office software.
I hate to see an American company fail so spectacularly.
Don’t feel too bad. Many a job has been lost at Apple and other tech companies at the hands of Microsoft raping and pillaging their ideas. Karma is about to give Microsoft the ultimate bitch slap. Oh the irony of Bill Gates funding a contest to develop a more efficient toilet. He’s already developed it. It’s called Microsoft and it’s self-flushing.
I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Toto
Such foul thoughts and images are below you. You can aspire to your true potential.
Shit balls! C3PO. You might consider a life in a Buddhist monastery atop the Himalayas.
I guess you are operating at your true potential already. You have my condolences and deepest sympathy.
Stop cyberstalking me.
You set yourself up as such an obvious target. How about changing your posting tone and show respect for your intended audience? Many are likely to label you as a troll and ignore you entirely. I personally like a few of your posts but then you spoil it so frequently with trash talk.
I’m intrigued … Are you pulling bjb up on his use of the word “rape”, if so, you should reacquaint yourself with a dictionary.
MicroBerry?
Is the collapse really happening? Quality OS and quality productivity apps for free makes Windows PCs look expensive.
Quite funny that they use the ongoing profits from the 2 things that really make any to fund a bottomless dustbin in mobile and wow the legs of the former are being eaten away by the opposition. The fact that it got to the knees before they even noticed is particularly amusing. Microsoft are increasingly in a siege situation even as they try to open a second front. This could get bloody if spectacular.
If it was Samsung and LG you might have something to whine about. If your heartburn is over American companies, both Google and Apple are American companies. Don’t see the problem.
you’d better double check your facts on this supposed “evisceration”;
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/24/us-microsoft-results-idUSBRE99N1A020131024
Oct 24: “Overall for the fiscal first quarter, Microsoft posted a 17 percent increase in profit to $5.2 billion, or 62 cents per share, up from $4.5 billion, or 53 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter…
Revenue rose 16 percent to $18.5 billion, helped by rising sales of its Office software…”
It would seem that in an era when the PC is supposedly dying (i.e., Windows 8 is being rejected by the masses), Office seems to be increasing in sales pretty well.
… and it’s not just corporate deployments either. In fact, Office for the Mac is installed on a greater percentage of Macs than Office is installed on Windows machines. Let that sink in for a moment: a greater percentage of Mac users choose MS Office than Windows users choose Office. Are all these Mac users crazy? Of course not. They simply need what neither Google nor Apple offer. And with the dumbing-down of the latest iWork apps for the Mac, that isn’t going to change anytime soon.
It doesn’t matter even if Microsoft unveils Office for iPad in the next hour because just like on the iPhone you would need an Office 365 subscription.
Meanwhile Apples iWorks is 100% free plus it comes with iWorks in iCloud.
Can you say no brainier 🙂
Safari and (especially) iTunes for Windows are examples of releasing software on a “competitive” platform to gain a foothold.
Apple should put the final nail in microsluts coffin. Pages, keynote and numbers for all OSX and iOS users free, current and new devices. Coupled with iCloud, it would be a brilliant stroke.
To repeat a warning from another thread: the new version of Pages for OSX achieves compatibility with the iOS and iCloud versions by dropping some of its features. Page Layout mode is gone. Text links in existing files will be deleted. There may be other missing features. If you use Pages to produce newsletters and the like, you must continue to use iWorks ’09. Do not delete it until you are sure you don ‘t still need it. I am very disappointed.
Don’t know where you got your info, but it’s wrong, Page Layout mode lives and breathes in the new version of Pages for Mac.
Good to know. Layout was missing from the iCloud version of Pages and the iOS version as well. Haven’t tried the new ones yet.
Frustrating as I use Layout 99% of the time.
Don’t know where you got your information, but opening an existing Page Layout document deletes all the text box links and therefore leaves you with a Word Processing document. No way to edit spreads because facing-page view is gone. May be other downgrades, but those are the ones I’ve found so far.
The Text Boxes still exist on the iPad version. All you have to do is open tools section and clicke the Button with the T inside of it and you will have a text box that functions a lot like it does in the Layout Mode of the Previous version of Pages. I have been doing that for a long time now in my iPad since version 1. Works pretty well for me. The thing is, now the iPad version has Instant Alpha. However, the Now Free InkPad has a better way of Masking that is easy to use and allows for the addition of Any True Type Fonts you wish to add. Things are truly great for page layouts, etc. on an iPad!
Everyone is picking on M$; but they’re the ones that gave the Office suite innovative assistants, ‘Office Bob,’ and ‘Clippy.’ I’m sure they’ll innovate and give Office for iOS a worthy assistant. I’m sure that’s what the delay is. 🙂
They’re having trouble finding a suitable candidate. Siri turned them down and the Ford car assistant isn’t qualified. There will be ore interviews to perform, but not many candidates are lining up.
Perhaps Eliza Doctor,… MS users probably need a shirk more than an assistant.
** Shrink
It had better be Lady Gaga to sing its praises, Jude Law to promote its features and the caped crusader to cover its running costs for that to work.
Articles like this and the comments below make me want to fling my MB Air out the window.
Seriously we didn’t have multi-monitor support till YESTERDAY!! And if Office for iPad is so useless then why even talk about it?
Being a fan is one thing but getting down on your knees for what is essentially just another brand trying to take money off our hands is hilarious.