Microsoft Office for the iPad can’t come soon enough
If you followed my Living life as a Google user series, you’ll remember that the whole point of it was to cut down on the number of companies from which I use services.
For me, though, it’s a near-impossible task. With the exception of my Galaxy Nexus, I have exclusively Apple hardware: a MacBook Pro, a Mac mini, and a new iPad. But I use a lot of Google’s services and Microsoft software, as well. And as much as I love Google and Apple, Microsoft still has their productivity suites beat with Office. I have a copy of Office for Mac 2011 that I love using – and I’d love even more to be able to edit the documents I produce from it on the go.
It’s been rumored for a while now that Microsoft will be bringing iOS and Android versions to their respective app marketplaces, but those same rumors have pegged the release date at some point in November.
November? Yuck!
It may seem that this is a random time to complain about waiting for office software, but today I was with my iPad and my Galaxy Nexus and nothing else. As of right now, my iPad serves as mostly an entertainment-only device. I may answer a few emails from it here and there, but the majority of the time, I’m not doing any work on it.
As I was sitting there and wasting a bit of time, I decided that I’d open up the Notes app and see what kind of productivity could be done with it. Unfortunately, the answer is none. There’s no formatting; basically, all you can do is type notes with the horrible handwritten font.
Formatting and fonts that don’t scrape at your eyes are two things that matter to me a great deal: I’m a writer; I love to write, and I want to be able to write for my job on whichever device I happen to be using.
Like I said, I use Office for Mac already. I know what Microsoft is capable of in regards to office software – and that’s why I’m so excited for the iOS version. I want need all of that functionality on my tablet; it will allow me to write formatted documents up so that when I’m back to my laptop or my desktop, all I’ll need to do is send myself the document, make minor tweaks, and continue working.
The downside to my excitement is that I’ll buy it – and it’ll cost me, I’m sure. Office has generally been an expensive piece of software, and while iOS is a mobile platform, I wouldn’t be surprised if the suite came in at a price around $50. That’s just speculation on my part, though, and I could be way off. I hope I am, but it’s not like it’ll matter: Microsoft is still getting my money.
Are any of you as excited as I am for Office on your iOS or Android device?
[BusinessInsider]
