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.
Prepare yourself Microsoft software lovers, as it seems that potential changes are afoot over at the Redmond headquarters. It seems that well-placed sources are suggesting that Microsoft is taking a very serious look at introducing a fully functioning and official version of the Office productivity suite in 2014 for the Linux platform. We aren't suggesting that a release of Office for Linux would instantly make desktop Linux a more appealing proposition to every computer user in the world, but it would certainly act as encouragement for those who have been dicing with the idea of introducing Linux into their lives.
The notion of Microsoft bringing its Office productivity suite to iOS has been long-standing, and while the Redmond-based company has, typically, revealed little with regards to its plans (if any), the release of OneNote for iPad earlier this year certainly seemed indicative of things to come. The Verge then waded into the argument in November by showing off some leaked images indicated Office could release for iOS early next year under a freemium model. Today, references to a slew of potential Office for iOS apps have surfaced on the software maker's support site, and although the product tags depicted look to have been applied somewhat hurriedly, the spot is as strong an indicator as we've seen that Microsoft is plotting to release Office for iOS.
It has been a long time coming, but a version of Microsoft Office for iOS and Android is real, and while currently in the works, will be arriving early next year. As is frequently the case, the iOS version for iPhone and iPad will drop first, with an Android edition landing over at the Google Play Store at some point thereafter.
The very final iterations of Microsoft's Office 2013, along with the new Office server editions like SharePoint Server 2013, Exchange Server 2013, Lync Server 2013 are now available to TechNet and MSDN subscribers.
Microsoft has taken the opportunity to announce that the development phase of Office 2013 is complete and the engineering teams involved have signed off the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) build of the suite. Now that the coding, design and development phases of the process are complete; the main focus of the Redmond company is to now concentrate on releasing the new build of Office to consumer and business customers via selected channels.
Microsoft is about to release a groundbreaking version of its popular Windows operating system, although with the usual frenzy surrounding the iPhone 5, you certainly wouldn't know it. As well as releasing for desktop as per usual, Windows 8 will be available for tablets such as the Surface, and as well as Windows Phone 8 for - you've guessed it - smartphones, a special, tablet-friendly iteration will be released for Windows 8 RT.
If you happen to be the owner of a touch-screen tablet like the iPad or something similar, and also a big fan of Microsoft's Office suite of programs, then you probably live under an umbrella of disappointment and are aware of the fact that the Redmond software giants don't offer any native Office apps for the iPad. There's been talk of the iPad App Store receiving some official apps from Microsoft, but up until now nothing has come to fruition, leaving some users extremely disappointed and having to look for alternative solutions to satisfy their need to create and edit documents on the go.
Following yesterday's official debut of Office 2013 (and the Customer Preview, which is now available for download as we reported yesterday), Microsoft has today followed up with a post that shares more information about Office 2013's role in the cloud as well as its future on the Windows Phone platform.
Although Microsoft didn't stipulate an Office 2013 announcement would be arriving today, the blogosphere has been abuzz with regards to today's announcement from the Redmond company. After a big banner showing the new Office logo was placed outside the San Fran venue, it was down to company CEO Steve Ballmer finally lifted the lid on its Office 2013.
