All Articles Tagged Microsoft office

Now this is something from Microsoft that we’re really excited about — Office Web Apps that take the traditional second pillar of Microsoft’s business and launch it up into the iPhone Safari browser-compatible cloud.

We’d prefer a native Microsoft Office for iPhone at this point, of course, but a free (ad supported, though hopefully not with 15-30 sec. un-skippable commercials…) version online? That’s a great “good enough for now”.

Microsoft has just begun showing off the tech preview, though Techcrunch says the mobile version is still in its infancy:

We mentioned in our original post in July that the ability to use products across the OS, browser, and mobile device is a key part of Microsoft’s strategy. We actually demo’d the Sharepoint-based version of PowerPoint on an iPhone and it was disarmingly sleek. While this functionality has already been established for Sharepoint, the SkyDrive-based apps are still being developed to work on mobile browsers. Microsoft says it will be done by the time the product launches next year.

With Google’s Web Apps really raising the bar (and bringing the competitive pressure), it’s not surprising to see Microsoft pushing back. And, hey, maybe Apple could get in the game and start doing something more interesting with iWork.com as well…

As part of their ongoing Office 2010 ramp up, Fortune reports:

Microsoft – the king of paid software – will announce today that it is going to give a version of Office away for free online. Both the online and desktop versions are scheduled to arrive in the first half of next year. Yes, you read that right. The latest version of its ubiquitous productivity software, dubbed Office 2010, will come as both a piece of software you can buy for your computer, and as a service you can access in your browser. [UPDATE: Microsoft says it will support the Firefox and Safari browsers as well as IE.]

Which immediately makes us ask — how about Mobile Safari?

While native Office-supporting apps are obviously the way to go for many people, Google Docs has proven a place and usage case for WebApps, and having Microsoft Office 2010, of all things, as a WebApp on the iPhone would no doubt appeal to many, many users as well.

(Not to mention WebKit, the engine behind Mobile Safari, is also used by Android, Palm, and some Nokia devices, which would certainly be additional eyeballs for Microsoft’s ad sponsorships.)