In a surprising move, Microsoft has just made Office completely free for iPad, iPhone and Android. Microsoft wants users to stick to the Office platform on their mobile devices, and apparently this is the way to achieve that.

Microsoft and Dropbox may be considered adversaries, no less because the software giant’s OneDrive service is a direct competitor to the famed cloud company’s very own, but on rare occasions, rivals can work alongside each other for the benefit of the end-user experience. One such instance appears to have arisen just recently, with Microsoft and Dropbox today announcing a move to better integrate the former’s Office productivity suite with the cloud-based services of the latter.

This morning, Microsoft announced the release of a new version of Outlook for Mac, and detailed the release timings of the rest of the Office products, which would be the Office for Mac 2015.

Screenshots of Office for Mac 2015 have just been leaked onto the Internet. It has been a while since Microsoft last updated the Office suite, and it seems like the newer version carries a design language that is heavily borrowed from its Windows counterpart.

Microsoft’s Office suite has been the subject of much expansion over the past few years, and the occasions when Bill Gates would gripe at the fact that the Apple iPad disadvantaged by its lack of Office support seems a long time ago now. But while the productivity software is not as popular on OS X as it is on Windows, the software maker has continued to offer support, and off the back of several claims that a new version of Office for Mac would be arriving in the near future, a series of legit-looking screenshots, allegedly from Office 16, give us an apparent glimpse at these endeavors.

It did take a while for Microsoft to come through with Office for iPad, but with the latest update to the Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps, they’re now much more competent than ever before. After the fallout with Windows 8, the software maker has built up a favorable reputation for actually listening to the concerns of consumers, and having taken on board the numerous critiques of the Office apps for iPad, has delivered quite a significant bump to each, pushing the version numbers up to 1.1 in the process.

Microsoft has been working very hard to boost consumer interest in its Office suite, offering a series of deals and promotions over the past couple of months. In the latest, the software maker will be offering full on Office 365 access in a new ‘Personal’ package that allows customers to activate the service on one PC or Mac, and one tablet, for just $69 per year. Full details can be found right after the leap.

Today has been a busy day for Microsoft, and in particular, its Office suite. Having finally made its way to the App Store for iPad following an announcement by Satya Nadella, users of the Apple tablet can finally enjoy Word, Excel and PowerPoint on their devices. A subscription service, Office 365 costs $99.99 per year for those looking to create, edit and save their documents on-the-go, but for a limited time, the software giant is offering one year’s free Office 365 to iPad users prepared to traipse over to their local Microsoft Store.

Not before time, Microsoft has taken the wraps off Office for iPad, comprising of three apps: Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The Redmond’s famed productivity suite has taken its time to trickle out for Apple’s iOS device range, with the company having played hard-ball in order to sway users into purchasing Windows 8 / RT tablets. Details, as always, can be found right after the leap.

Microsoft seems determined to make the most of its ecosystem and that’s never been more clear than the news that the company has launched the somewhat less than exciting Office Remote app for Windows Phone. If you’ve ever wanted to interact with Microsoft’s Office apps by using your Windows Phone instead of a mouse, then you’re in luck.

It has taken a fairly long time for Microsoft’s Office suite to reach the mobile scene, and even though the launches for iOS and Android are now official, the Redmond company neglected to bring support for Apple’s iPad right off the bat. Outgoing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has assured iPad users that touch support for the larger displays of Apple’s iDevice is forthcoming, adding that work is “in progress,” and that users can still access Office Web Apps using their browser.

The mobile community has waited a long time for Microsoft Office to finally begin supporting devices other than the Redmond’s own range, and today, the launch of the famed productivity suite on Android begins. Although there’s not yet any support for Android tablets, the smartphone community on Google’s mobile OS can today enjoy Office on their handsets, provided they’re running Ice Cream Sandwich or higher. Details after the break.