It’s hardly a new rumor: Microsoft Office is widely expected to arrive on the iPad at some point in the future, given how Redmond has been embracing the platform with practically all of its other software. But a new report claims it may be a little closer to reality than previously thought.
The Daily is reporting that Microsoft Office for iPad is about to be submitted to Apple for App Store approval, a move that could signal a launch is just days or weeks away. Office, of course, is Microsoft’s mammoth software productivity suite combining Word, Excel and PowerPoint as well as supporting services — at least on the desktop version.
“A brief hands-on with a working prototype of the software revealed a number of new things,” the report said. “The app’s user interface is similar to the current OneNote app, but it has hints of Metro, the new design language that can be seen in Windows Phone and in the as-yet-released Windows 8 desktop operating system.”
According to sources, Microsoft Office could wind up being an iPad exclusive, at least for now. “An Android version of Office is not in the works,” the tipster reveals, also noting that the current OneNote app for iOS will soon get a Metro-inspired update as well.
Needless to say, the arrival of the real Microsoft Office on the iPad may create a ripple through developers who currently dabble in productivity apps — there are any number of such apps that can read and write Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats, but we’re guessing die-hard users will want the real thing.
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(Image courtesy of The Daily)
Article source: http://www.maclife.com/article/news/report_microsoft_office_ipad_submitted_app_store
