Office for iPad – Really? “Missed it by that much”


First of all I’m not a Microsoft hater. I use many of their products and have for years. Whether I continue to use them is another question. Unfortunately like most, I think they have lost the interest of the masses over the past years. Their inability to decide in entering markets hinders them from dominating this multi-device world we live in.

Maybe being such a big company it stalls them from making decisions in a timely manor. But to come out with Office for iPad now, after everyone has found other solutions is just to funny. With that said, the iPad has found its way into some large corporate environments and for that reason I suppose it is needed. But why wait so long? Have people not found other workarounds in the meantime?


Personally I have moved on to Apple products like iWorks, that includes Keynote, Pages and Numbers all answers to Microsoft office basics. They all open your existing Microsoft docs just fine and export them back. There was a bit of a learning curve with these products and some not as intuitive, but I got through it and now it’s easy to port my documents on any device.



What if you live in a Android/Apple World?

Beyond those products, I’m ready to switch over to Google Docs and do everything in the cloud. These tools are totally agnostic to your system and device. The tools are definitely not as robust at Microsoft or even the Apple products, but you know what – most business’ don’t demand intensive Word documents and PowerPoint shows anymore. The work you can do on Google Docs covers probably 80-90% of the work needed on a office product.

 “Users have learned to work differently”

Other APPS have popped up over the past couple years for Android and Apple IOS. Cross-platform programs, such as Evernote and Springpad, work seamlessly across platforms and across operating systems. These Apps may not rival Office capabilities, but users have learned to work differently.


To sum this up, while Microsoft waited to enter this market, they have been surpassed by startup companies as well as the big guys on iPad and other devices. And it’s not just about “not using Microsoft products”, its about workflow. We have all adjusted to a different workflow that doesn’t include Microsoft products. This in fact may be the biggest problem they face. They keep coming to the game too late.


What do you think? Opinion Matters.



Here is a video with a quick demo of Office on the iPad from Mashable


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