We heard that Microsoft was building Office for the iPad. When Microsoft released Office for iPhone, an iPad version seemed close; indeed, credible sources said it would arrive in the first half of this year and
yesterday we got reports claiming the iPad version of Office will launch today and Microsoft today announced Office for iPad, a trio of apps that bring Word, PowerPoint and Excel to tablets. Those should be showing up in the App Store shortly — around 11AM Pacific (2PM Eastern), to be exact according to Microsoft.
As with the iPhone version, these apps are free to download, and you can view documents/give presentations without a paid subscription. As ever, you’ll need to sign in with a OneDrive or SharePoint account to retrieve your documents, or else have your stuff stored on the iPad itself. However, if you ever want to edit a doc or create something from scratch, you’ll need an Office 365 subscription (you can even use Microsoft’s cheaper Office 365 Personal plan when it launches later this spring). It’s $9.99 per month for Office 365 Home Premium and $6.99 per month for the upcoming Personal plan. If you like, you can also sign up for a 30-day trial at Office.com.
Apple has its own office suite, called iWork, which Apple began bundling for free onto new iOS and Mac devices late last year. Will Microsoft be able to complete with that, or will iPad users prefer Office? The next few months will answer that question. Meanwhile you can leave your thoughts down below.
Soruce – The Verge
