The Daily has given us our first shots of a product that sounds a little odd at first glance – Microsoft Office for the iPad and iPad 2. While Apple and Microsoft are at each other’s throats in the OS and mobile markets, they do produce products for each others platforms, most notably iTunes and Safari for Windows and Microsoft Office for OS X. That makes Microsoft Office for iPad fairly standard operating procedure.
The photo, which shows Microsoft Office running on an iPad 2, reveals a few things about the new app. The big thing is that three of the most popular Office applications are included: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Powerpoint. There’s also inclusion of the Messenger app (but sadly no integrated Minesweeper). Other icons glimpsed in the photo are presumably for settings and search, which you’d expect. The whole UI is definitely Microsoft’s Metro, which is spreading everywhere these days: Windows 8, Windows Phone and the Xbox 360.
Microsoft Office will reportedly be released for iPad in the next few weeks. What’s next – Office on Android? According to The Daily, that’s one platform that Microsoft aren’t targeting. Of course, Windows 8 will come with an updated version of Office called Office 15, which will include interface and touch improvements. Expect to hear more at the Mobile World Congress next week.
Editor’s Note: In the course of posting this story, Microsoft have discounted it as a rumour. However, the original story may still have merit and we have decided to run it anyway.
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