Office

Microsoft and Dropbox announced a new partnership between the two companies today and a commitment to bring integration between Dropbox and Office apps on iOS and Android. Currently Office users rely on local storage for saving files or Microsoft’s own OneDrive service for saving and syncing files, but the newly announced partnership will allow Office users to use the popular Dropbox service as an additional storage and syncing option and introduce new features between the productivity apps and syncing service.
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Microsoft redesigns Outlook for Mac, says new Office coming in 2015

Zac Hall Oct 31 2014 - 7:16 am PT

48 Comments

Microsoft has today announced an updated version of its Outlook for Mac software with an updated design and performance improvements. The new version of email, calendar, and contacts app from Microsoft is available through the company’s Office 365 subscription service, and Microsoft says it offers a more consistent experience with the iPhone and iPad versions.

In addition to releasing the new version of Outlook for Mac, Microsoft has shared that it will ship a new version of Office for Mac in 2015. An overhauled version of Office, which includes Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote, will be available for Mac users as a public beta in the first half of 2015 while Microsoft is targeting the second half of 2015 for the commercial release.
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Microsoft expected to announce Office for Mac timing “very soon,” release rumored for early 2015

Ben Lovejoy Oct 29 2014 - 3:51 am PT

Following yesterday’s leaked screenshots of a new version of Office for Mac, ZDNet is reporting that its contacts have told it that Microsoft will announce timings for the new edition of Office for Mac “very soon.”

The company also is expected to disclose timing and possibly a public preview of its next Office for Mac release very soon, as well […] The latest rumored release target for the next Office for Mac is early 2015.

Yesterday’s report suggested a flattened look, support for Retina screens and integration with Notification Center.

Microsoft now offering monthly in-app subscriptions in Office iPad apps

Jordan Kahn Sep 2 2014 - 10:25 am PT

Following updates today for Microsoft’s Office suite of apps for iPad, users can now purchase monthly subscriptions to Office 365, the service required for access to full editing features.

So starting today, you can buy a monthly subscription to Office 365 from within Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad. You can choose between Office 365 Personal and Office 365 Home. Office 365 Personal is designed to help individuals who want to use Office on one PC or Mac and one tablet, while Office 365 Home is for households with up to five PCs or Macs, plus five tablets.

The monthly subscriptions are now available to purchase directly in the app for $6.99/month for the Personal plan and $9.99/month for Home. Microsoft added that “if you buy a monthly subscription on your iPad, you can switch to an annual subscription from your iPad, or from iTunes on your PC or Mac.” Yearly subscriptions to Office 365 offer savings over the monthly plans and are available for $69/year (Personal) and $99/year (Home).

Microsoft offered a chart showing what each of the plans get you within the Office apps vs free features:

The updated Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for iPad are available on the App Store now.

Microsoft releases Office for iPad update with PDF exporting, presenter view, third party fonts, more

Zac Hall Jul 31 2014 - 10:20 am PT

Image: smallbiztrends.com

Earlier this week Microsoft introduced an updated version of its OneNote app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and today new versions of its Office for iPad suite have been released. Version 1.1 of Office for iPad introduces a list of new features in the first major update to the tablet productivity apps. Included in the update is the ability to send files from Word and Excel as a PDF file, a new Presenter View for PowerPoint, and a list of several more features. Check below for the breakdown of new features for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word for iPad.
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Apple beefs up iWork for iCloud with bolstered collaboration, more file storage

Mark Gurman May 20 2014 - 12:25 pm PT

24 Comments

Apple today has enhanced its iWork suite of iCloud apps to include much improved collaboration, new document options, and more file storage. iWork includes the Pages word processor, Keynote presentation maker, and Numbers spreadsheet manager, and it is likely that supporting apps for iOS and OS X will become available in the near future…

Microsoft for Office for iPad shows continued growth with 27 million downloads to date

Mark Gurman May 12 2014 - 11:01 am PT

13 Comments

Microsoft announced today at the TechEd Conference that Microsoft Office for iPad, which includes Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, has been downloaded from the App Store 27 million times to date. The statistic was first shared on Twitter by Microsoft watcher Paul Thurrot and noted by Business Insider:

Microsoft adds printing support to Office for iPad apps, other features

Jordan Kahn Apr 29 2014 - 9:26 am PT

1 year Office 365 Home Premium subscription for $67.15

When Microsoft launched its Office for iPad apps last month, one of the most requested missing features was printing support. Just over a month later, today the company announced in a blog post that it’s updating the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint iPad apps with support for printing in addition to other new features and fixes.

Your top request is here! You can now print Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations to an AirPrintTM printer. In Word for iPad, you can choose to print a document with or without markup. In Excel, print a selected range, a single worksheet or an entire spreadsheet. Of course, you can select the pages or slides you want to print.

In addition to printing, the company also announced that its updated PowerPoint with SmartGuides, the tool that allows users to easily “align pictures, shapes, and textboxes as you move them around on a slide.” You’ll also find other new features for Excel, as well as fixes and improvements in the other apps:
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Microsoft’s new cheaper 365 subscription gets you Office on one Mac & iPad for $69/year

Jordan Kahn Apr 15 2014 - 9:10 am PT

5 Comments

Microsoft is launching a cheaper ‘Personal’ Office 365 subscription today that will give you access to the cloud services and mobile apps for $69/year or $6.99/month opposed to the $99/year Home subscription. The new Personal subscription only provides access for one Mac (or PC) and iPad (or tablet) instead of the 5 PC or Macs and 5 tablets you get with a Home subscription.

You might want to hold off on the new subscription, however, as Amazon is currently selling the full Home subscription for just $63 (37% off). That’s cheaper than the new $69 Personal plan, but it’s possible Microsoft could soon end that discount and change prices on Amazon now that the new Personal subscription is launching.

The Office 365 subscription gives you access to full editing features in Microsoft’s recently released suite of Office apps for iPad, but also access to desktop and online versions of Microsoft’s Office apps, 7GB of cloud storage, and 60 minutes of Skype credit a month.

Microsoft’s Office for iPad team talks development process, Ballmer, and more during Reddit AMA

Zac Hall Apr 8 2014 - 10:34 am PT

8 Comments

As Microsoft continues its Office for iPad marketing campaign, the team that developed the productivity software has taken to Reddit for an AMA, or Ask Me Anything, to answer questions and discuss the development process behind Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for iPad. By measure of upvotes, the most popular question as of the time of this writing asked when Office for iPad would gain the ability to print, something Apple’s iWork suite and many of apps already offer, to which the team replied “in due course” while noting the high demand of the feature.

But the team didn’t stop there; Microsoft’s Office for iPad team also shared photos of their lab (as seen in the above photo), talked about the development process for bringing Office to the iPad, and even addressed the notion that former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer held Office back from the iPad…
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Microsoft says Office iPad apps hit 12 million downloads a week after release

Jordan Kahn Apr 3 2014 - 1:37 pm PT

36 Comments

After announcing the release of the Office for iPad apps late last month, Microsoft announced today that the separate Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps for iPad have collectively reached 12 million downloads a week after release. The number also included downloads of the OneNote app for iPad, which has been available for a couple of years leading up to the release of the Office apps, but Microsoft didn’t provide a breakdown of sales by app.
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Review roundup: Is Office for iPad worth ninety-nine bucks a year?

Ben Lovejoy Apr 3 2014 - 5:36 am PT

44 Comments

Image: smallbiztrends.com

The iPad edition of Microsoft Office has been a long-time coming. This was, it now seems clear, no accident: Microsoft wanted to attempt to boost sales of its ill-fated Surface tablet by pointing to the lack of Office software on the iPad.

Now that the company has accepted the inevitable, that most people would rather have Office on their iPad than buy a Surface, the question is: was it worth the wait … ?
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Microsoft to hand out free Office 365 subscriptions to iPad owners in retail stores tomorrow

Mike Beasley Mar 27 2014 - 6:59 pm PT

20 Comments

Microsoft finally took the wraps off of its long-awaited Office for iPad suite this morning, only to reveal that most of its functions require a $99 subscription to the Office 365 service. Even though you can get a discounted subscription through Amazon, $70 may seem pretty steep. Rest assured, Microsoft is planning to offer free one-year subscriptions to the service tomorrow.

All you have to do to get your free subscription is show up at one of Microsoft’s retail stores with your iPad in hand. The first 50 people to do so will get the sub completely free of charge. Microsoft announced the promotion in a tweet earlier today:
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Yes, Apple is taking 30% of every Office 365 subscription purchased through Office for iPad

Mike Beasley Mar 27 2014 - 3:18 pm PT

11 Comments

When Microsoft announced its Office for iPad apps earlier today, it confirmed that the software will require a subscription to Microsoft’s $99/year Office 365 service for most functions. If you don’t have one already, you can get a subscription directly through the Office apps for the regular price of $99.

As you may recall, Apple and Microsoft went toe-to-toe last April on the issue of whether or not Apple should get a 30% cut for SkyDrive storage space purchased through the SkyDrive app. Apple has always maintained the position that any goods or services sold through iOS apps should use the in-app purchase system created by Apple—allowing the Cupertino company to take its regular 30% cut of the price.

In the case of the SkyDrive dispute, Apple’s decision remained unchanged, which prompted Microsoft to simply remove the option to purchase additional storage space through the SkyDrive app altogether. In the case of today’s Office launch, however, the two companies seem to be on much better terms.

Apple has confirmed to Re/code that the company is taking its full 30% share of all Office 365 purchases made through the iPad software. This apparent agreement, along with friendly tweets between the CEOs of both companies, could be the first signs of a much less combative Microsoft under the leadership of new CEO Satya Nadella, who replaced Steve Ballmer in the role this year.

Perhaps in the future we’ll see even more collaboration between the two companies.

Want the new Microsoft Office apps for iPad? Get 33% off 1yr Office 365 Home Premium subscriptions: $67

Jordan Kahn Mar 27 2014 - 2:03 pm PT

1 Comment

In case you missed it, Microsoft finally released its suite of Office apps for iPad today with the introduction of standalone Word, PowerPoint, & Excel apps in the App Store. The Office app for iPhone remains the same apart from dropping the requirement of a 365 subscription (it’s now free for all!), but the new iPad versions of the Office apps WILL require an Office 365 subscription to create or edit documents. So, if you plan on using the Office apps on your iPad in the future, you’ll want to take advantage of a big discount on 365 subscriptions currently on Amazon.

Normally $99/year or $10/month, you can grab a 1 year Office 365 Home Premium subscription for $67.15 with free shipping. That’s a savings of $32.84 (33%) and gets to an access code for 5 Macs or PCs with access to all Office 365 app and services. That includes 20GB OneDrive storage for each for up to 4 household member, 60 minutes of Skype calls per month and all the apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access.

Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are now available on the App Store.
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Microsoft announces new Office for iPad apps including Word, PowerPoint, & Excel

Zac Hall Mar 27 2014 - 10:15 am PT

24 Comments

Microsoft’s Office suite of productivity apps has long been rumored to be in development for the iPad shortly after the tablet’s debut in 2010. Most notably was The Daily (now defunct) reporting it had knowledge (and screenshots ) of Microsoft’s software for Apple’s mobile platform in 2011, something Microsoft was quick to deny was legitimate. Three years and one CEO later, Microsoft is finally ready to play nice with the iPad.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s new CEO following Steve Ballmer’s retirement earlier this year, outlined Microsoft’s new cloud and mobile strategy for the company today including full Office for iPad support. Unlike the Office 365 app Microsoft introduced early last year, Microsoft’s new apps today include individual apps for Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

Microsoft’s Office suite of apps will each be available as a free download, but will require an Office 365 subscription (which offers a 30-day trial) to create and edit documents. Users can still read and present documents with Office for iPad without a subscription. Office documents will rely on Microsoft’s OneDrive service for syncing content.

Word, PowerPoint, and Excel are now available on the App Store.

Report: Office for iPad to be revealed on March 27th

Benjamin Mayo Mar 17 2014 - 2:38 pm PT

12 Comments

Both The Verge and ZDNet are independently reporting that Microsoft will finally launch Office for iPad at the end of this month on March 27th, according to sources. According to The Verge, the suite will (unsurprisingly) be very similar to the Office app already on the iPhone App Store.

Microsoft Office for iPad is reportedly on the way, but does it even matter now? [Poll]

Mike Beasley Feb 14 2014 - 2:59 pm PT

49 Comments

Microsoft Office for iPad is still on the way, and could be launched before the Microsoft even releases a Windows 8 version of the productivity suite, according to a report from ZDNet. The app (or suite of apps) is said to require a paid Office365 subscription and will sync with Microsoft’s services.

But with the iWork now shipping for free on all new Macs and iOS devices—requiring only a free iCloud account to sync and accompanied by an open public beta of a cross-platform web version—is Microsoft preparing to offer too little too late?

Poll images via The Daily/The Inquirer

Microsoft names Satya Nadella CEO as Bill Gates demoted from Chairman to ‘Technology Advisor’

Zac Hall Feb 4 2014 - 6:17 am PT

Following the announcement last August that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was out the door as soon as the company could find a new captain to lead the ship, the Board finally announced today that it has found its guy: Satya Nadella.

As part of the changes, founder and former CEO Bill Gates has agreed to step down from the Board and into a new role as ‘technology advisor’. Gates says he will step up his time at the company meeting with various groups and helping with future products at the request of Nadella.
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Another Microsoft iOS app: Outlook for Office 365 subscribers

Scott Buscemi Jul 16 2013 - 10:25 am PT

This morning, Microsoft announced the launch of their new iOS application, “OWA” or Outlook Web App. Specifically for Office 365 subscribers, this native application brings notifications and other features that are not available through the web application:

Our goal is to help our customers remain productive anytime, anywhere. This includes providing a great email experience on smartphones and tablets. Windows Phone 8 comes with a top-notch native email client in Outlook Mobile, and we offer Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), which is the de-facto industry standard for accessing Exchange email on mobile devices. In order to better support many of our customers who use their iPhones and iPads for work, we are introducing OWA for iPhone and OWA for iPad, which bring a native Outlook Web App experience to iOS devices!

OWA for iPhone and OWA for iPad are both free, but require a paid Office 365 subscription.

Last month, Microsoft Office 365 made its debut in the App Store, but the reviews have been less than stellar.

Microsoft releases major update for OneNote app on iOS

Chance Miller Jul 1 2013 - 8:45 am PT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vZviDTuaVlA

In a post on the official Office blog, Microsoft has announced a major new version of OneNote for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

First off, the update adds a much more rich editing experience. Now, files and formatting look the same across all devices. This includes things such as text, graphs, tables, borders, and more. If you draw on a note with a Windows tablet, the markings are then visible on your other devices, as well. All devices now support the ability to sync notebooks with Office 365 and SharePoint, as well as the ability to share files with other Office users. OneNote also now lets multiple people edit a note at the same time, much like Google Drive.
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Microsoft lies and cheats to portray advantage in tablet ads

Jordan Kahn May 23 2013 - 12:46 pm PT

Optical illusions? The iPad screen on the left is actually bigger

Earlier today Microsoft unleashed its second ad in what appears to be a new campaign focusing on directly comparing iPad to Windows 8 tablets side-by-side– not unlike Apple’s own very successful ‘Get a Mac’ campaign. However, it appears that some of Microsoft’s claims are turning out to be quite inaccurate.

To go along with the two videos posted to its YouTube channel and currently running on TV, curi.us (Via DaringFireball) points us to a comparison Microsoft has posted on its website pitting iPad against the ASUS VivoTab Smart Windows tablet. In the ad, Microsoft claims that the Windows tablet “has a bigger touchscreen,” but Elliot Temple from curi.us breaks down why it just isn’t true:

The iPad screen is 7.76 by 5.82 inches. The ASUS screen is 8.8 by 4.95 inches. ASUS is larger in one direction but smaller in the other direction, and has 3.55% less area than the iPad, not 36% more as Microsoft depicts.

How can the screen with a larger diagonal measurement be smaller? Because it’s a different shape. Long and thin gets you a bigger diagonal but a smaller screen, for the same diagonal inches.

While Microsoft might not have all its facts straight on display size, it using the fact it still hasn’t delivered an Office app for iOS as major part of its new campaign…
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Google adds ability to open Microsoft Office files directly in Chrome on Mac

Jordan Kahn Apr 25 2013 - 6:08 pm PT