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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, 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.