elgrantrolo writes:
With the iPad likely to be a top selling PC these days, this distinction in the computing world is likely to become less important, even more now that Microsoft announced the release of MS Office apps for Android phones and for the iPad. Some strings are attached to the Office365 SaaS, but overall, it looks like a significant step for Microsoft to be less reliant on the Windows OS.
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Microsoft Office for iPad and Android Phones
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(Score: 5, Insightful) by me on Friday March 28 2014, @03:45PM
When microsoft release a fully compatible Office for linux, without requiring a 365 subscription, then I'll be impressed - and reaching for my wallet.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by BasilBrush on Friday March 28 2014, @04:55PM
Well of course Android is Linux in a way.
But desktop Linux? Why would they bother? The market share is tiny, and of those, many avoid commercial software, and are especially hostile to Microsoft software.
Hurrah! Quoting works now!
(Score: 3, Informative) by Lagg on Friday March 28 2014, @05:33PM
http://lagg.me [lagg.me] 🗿
(Score: 3, Insightful) by BasilBrush on Friday March 28 2014, @06:04PM
You need a subscription to 365 to use them to edit. But I think that's just the revenue model. They certainly aren't just webviews embedded in an app. They are proper native apps.
Hurrah! Quoting works now!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 29 2014, @01:20AM
Why even run a libre operating system if you're going to put MS Office on it? Just be done with it and run MacOS if you want a nix userland.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by MrGuy on Friday March 28 2014, @03:47PM
Microsoft bet their biggest chip (Windows) on the idea that people wanted a consistent experience between mobile and desktop. They invested hugely in making the Windows experience "flow" like Windows Phone, on the belief that they'd gain in both markets by doing so. They expected people to come in droves. Having Office (quite possibly the most widely used software product in the world) restricted to Windows platforms was yet another sales driver.
It feels like this move is admitting failure on Windows Phone and their whole mobile strategy. They're never going to be a dominant player, so they're ditching "we're the only ones with Office!" as a marketing strategy for Windows Phone and admitting the only way they're getting significant Office sales from mobile is by enabling the competition.
In other words, the company that tanked their desktop OS experience specifically in a bid to drive up its mobile OS business just made a move that looks like it's admitting their mobile OS business is going nowhere.
Where can I sell this Microsoft stock?
(Score: 2) by snick on Friday March 28 2014, @04:20PM
Microsoft bet their biggest chip that the age of consumer desktop is coming to an end. I'm not saying that they made a smart bet, but Windows 8 was designed for the tablet, with backwards compatibility for folks still tethered to the desktop.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Grishnakh on Friday March 28 2014, @04:23PM
This isn't anything new. MS Office has been available for Macs for ages and ages.
(Score: 5, Funny) by MrGuy on Friday March 28 2014, @04:58PM
And the Mac version is still crappy enough that I keep a Windows 7 VM around to run the Windows version of Office. Because then what my clients (who mostly run Windows) get is what I actually intended.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday March 28 2014, @05:21PM
What makes you think the iPad version will be any better than this?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday March 29 2014, @02:04AM
This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one:
Microsoft's ALREADY telling of bugs in Fondle-Office for iPad [theregister.co.uk]
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Sunday March 30 2014, @06:26PM
Anyone who spends money on this product has to be an idiot. It's obvious MS doesn't really want people to use it, they want everyone to throw their iPads in the trash and buy Surface tablets; obviously Office on iPad isn't going to be a high-priority item for them when it comes to making sure it works well and is bug-free.
(Score: 1) by BasilBrush on Friday March 28 2014, @05:02PM
Not so much. Office for iOS and Android has been in development for 4 years. Which is about the same length of time that Windows Phone has been on the market. So it was started before they knew about lacklustre Windows Phone sales.
Also note that they've done Office:Mac for 23 years. And that was never because they thought OSX had beaten Windows.
They just realise that for Office to remain as a defacto standard for business documents, it has to be usable from the devices that business people have, not just the Windows ones.
Hurrah! Quoting works now!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by hamsterdan on Friday March 28 2014, @05:50PM
"They just realise that for Office to remain as a defacto standard for business documents, it has to be usable from the devices that business people have, not just the Windows ones."
Too late for this IMHO, as even between versions (95/97/2k/2k3/2k7 and so on) they have problems with layouts and compatibility. Since my properly formatted document might show in some weird way if the other person uses a different version, why bother paying for office and not use Libre Office (or Open, or whatever office instead?
That's what I'm doing now. If not for games, Windows might not even be on this computer...
(Score: 1) by BasilBrush on Friday March 28 2014, @06:02PM
Compatibility between versions was a problem at one time. But that's a long time ago. As to layout, that's always far worse after importing to a competitor Office system.
I don't know about you, but when I receive office documents, they are usually PDF, but if not they are an MS Office format. And business still buy MS Office to be able to load those office documents without many issues.
Personally I don't use MS Office if I can help it as I despise it. But there's no point pretending it isn't still the defacto standard in business.
Hurrah! Quoting works now!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 28 2014, @10:40PM
even between versions (95/97/2k/2k3/2k7 and so on) they have problems
It's always interesting when, several years down the road, some business or gov't agency that committed itself to M$Office needs to access a very important document and the file won't open for them in their current version of the MICROS~1 product.
Of course, the solution is to simply open that using ($0 FOSS) OpenOffice/LibreOffice and do a Save As.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 28 2014, @06:56PM
"Microsoft bet their biggest chip (Windows) on the idea that people wanted a consistent experience between mobile and desktop."
Reading "Almost Perfect" last night
Wordperfect made the same mistake creating the Windows and Mac versions assuming users wanted a UI that was the same as the DOS version.
New platforms play by different rules.
(Score: 1) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 28 2014, @10:43PM
WordPerfect's problem was that they trusted M$.
When Redmond said **These are the APIs we will be including in Windoze 95**, WordPerfect took them at their word and built their product using those.
M$, knowing better, built their competing product using the APIs that were *actually* to be included in their new OS.
Unfortunately, years later when they finally got got their day in court, "justice" said that what M$ did was perfectly OK.
Surprise! Hey, this is 21st century Amerika after all.
-- gewg_
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 28 2014, @10:22PM
I use Windows 8. It isn't my laptop, so no choice.
I can assure you that Microsoft have shot themselves in the foot here.
Under no circumstances will I install Microsoft software on any mobile device. I just don't trust them.
Windows 8 is a complete f*ckup. The Year of the Linux Desktop will happen not because Linux is better but because Microsoft Windows is worse.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by black6host on Friday March 28 2014, @06:36PM
I do have some use for Office compatibility on my tablet (Nexus 10). However, and I admit my usage us light, there are apps out there that already take care of that need. Documents To Go will handle password protected Excel 2010 spreadsheets which is my main need.
The thing is, I bought Docs to Go a loooong time ago and I don't have to pony up a large sum of cash every year. Or any cash at all. And I can install it on all my Android devices.
I know it's not a perfect recreation of Office on the pc but it's good enough for me. And we have no idea what the app Microsoft offers will be like. But I'd bet it won't be compelling enough to make me want to enter their subscription model hell.
Other user's needs may be more complex than mine, and perhaps Microsoft's app will scratch their itch. We'll see but I'm not holding my breath.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by lothmordor on Friday March 28 2014, @07:55PM
Maybe someone can clue me in a little, because I just don't get this.
Why pay for content creation software on a device that is meant for content consumption? Trying to write a report or some sort of documentation on a touchscreen makes about as much sense as wearing boxing gloves and trying to do calligraphy.
I suppose you could make a case for this as a document viewer or a way to make some small changes at final review or some such. But that brings up good questions like, why isn't the workplace providing the proper tools to do your job? Or worse, why are they bothering you with this while you're away from work?
I'm sure there are some people so plugged in that they might actually need this, but I doubt that number is high enough to justify the software development cost. It just strikes me as using the wrong tool for the job.
I suppose with a big enough ad campaign, you can convince people to buy wet sponges to drive nails.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Teckla on Friday March 28 2014, @08:06PM
I've seen plenty of people with iPads and Bluetooth keyboards. Perhaps that makes them acceptable for some kinds of content creation.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Saturday March 29 2014, @11:59AM
Quite, most people would be happy with the functionality of ms works from 20 years ago. Writing a quick document with a smattering of formatting on a tablet with a raptor style keyboard is fine for them.
Personally I have an ipadd (work supplied) and one of the things I have is a Visio document reader on it. When I go to a meeting I take it along rather than my laptop. It's lighter, the battery lasts, and I don't lose my ssh connections, but I can access all sorts of documents when a discussion happens.
Most of our documentation is stored on a wiki, so we rarely use office. There's the occasional spreadsheet that is barely more complex than a csv, so I don't see the need for office, but I'm sure other people need access to read office docs.
Right tool for the right job.
(Score: 3) by everdred on Friday March 28 2014, @08:58PM
> Why pay for content creation software on a device that is meant for content consumption?
Easy: the masses don't know this. For a lot of people, this is their new computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 28 2014, @10:46PM
This is the point I came to make.
I call for a show of hands of people who routinely consume M$Office documents on handheld devices--or have EVER done that.
*Creating* them on these thingies is a whole nuther level of disfunction.
-- gewg_
(Score: 1) by elgrantrolo on Saturday March 29 2014, @08:00AM
This is not that new. Home computing influences work computing habits and vice versa. At the moment, the ease of use of iPad and Android are so significantly better than the traditional PC that people are quite enthusiastically adopting iPad for work. There is compromise but a decent one.
I have only briefly used iPad but completely understand why people are enthusiastic about using it. Having SSD only for high end models was probably the worst thing that the traditional computer manufacturers have done. Now we have old PCs perceived as complex and slow, while tablets and phones are easy and powerful (2 cores and HD! wow! It's the SAME as a PC!)
People with 10" tablets are taking them everywhere, with the expectation to use them for work and play, like the MS Surface ads suggest. I think that the Surface (Pro and RT) is a decent answer to what the iPad and Android tablets brought to the table, namely in showing that a Microsoft "ecosystem" does help getting good online services working across devices. It suffered a lot because of the delay to get them to the market and of course because Google, Samsung and Apple did amazingly well.
As things are, I think that in 4 years or maybe a little more we'll look at the PC landscape and see the installed base looking something like 40% Android, 30% Microsoft, 25% Apple. The "PC" will just include more device types than desktop, laptop and tower form factors. There are downsides, but as with the "PC Era", they are more easily perceived by the SoylentNews crowd than by the ordinary buyer. Like it or not, we are in the "Cloud Era", and PCs are expected to work with an App Market, to have a lot of computing power delivered by the cloud services suppliers and to be DRM compliant.
(Score: 1) by RedBear on Saturday March 29 2014, @08:40PM
How can anyone explain anything to you when your cup runneth over with invalid assumptions about what, where and how other people do their "work"?
Also, this asinine assumption that portable devices are "meant" only for "content consumption" is getting really old. I don't create much on a tablet either, but there are millions of people who are perfectly happy creating all sorts of content on portable devices. You just end up sounding like all the old-timers who laughed at desktops for being useless because they weren't mainframes, and the new old-timers who laughed at laptops for being useless because they weren't desktop workstations, and the... etc., etc. Technology moves ever onward. In the next decade we'll hear you complaining that these young whipper-snappers are using implanted ocular screens and typing on invisible keyboards and how nobody could possibly get any actual work done without using actual physical hardware like you used to do. And you'll still be wrong.
Maybe if you close your mouth, set aside your assumptions, and open your eyes and ears you might start to figure out what people actually do with all those "content consumption" devices. They collaborate on CAD drawings for multi-million dollar buildings, they make full-length movies, they write novels, they have dispersed business meetings from remote locations. And that's just scratching the surface.
As long as you consider everyone else on earth to be dumber than you, how can you learn to respect what they do?
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 30 2014, @03:54PM
For iPad, not for Android.
TFA doesn't mention Android at all.