Microsoft Unveils Office for iPad

Office for iPadMicrosoft has finally bitten the bullet and launched a version of its Office software suite for the iPad. The company has come in for criticism for not previously doing so.

The release includes iPad versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, which will run on iPads running iOS 7.0 or later. The launch was announced by new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella in San Francisco yesterday evening, in a tacit acknowledgement that there is life after Windows, in what Nadella referred to as “mobile-first, cloud-first” world. The news was greeted with enthusiasm by iPad users, as Word quickly became the most downloaded iPad app in the App Store within hours of its release.

Announcing the release, the company said it had “reimagined” Office for the iPad, optimising each program for the touch experience. Microsoft has also released Office Mobile for iPhone and Android. This is a free app that enables iPhone and Android users to view and edit Office content on their phone.

A free version of Office for iPad enables users to read, view and present documents, spreadsheets and presentations. To create and edit documents, users need an Office 365 subscription. This costs £79.99 for one year and includes a licence for Office for iPad for five tablets, and five copies of Office for PCs and Macs. Office for iPad is available in 29 languages, and 135 countries, from today.