UPDATE: A Microsoft spokesperson has denied the upcoming launch, saying “The Daily story is based on inaccurate rumors and speculation. We have no further comment.”
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Back in November of 2011, rumors of an upcoming Microsoft Office app for the iPad elicited both excitement and skepticism, with a hearty dose of pessimism thrown in there as well. There exists Office-like apps for the iPad, but many people (like me, lifetime PC users who now spend a lot of time on an iPad) have failed to get behind any of them – since they weren’t the Office suite that they were used to.
Office lovers have reason to rejoice, as The Daily now reports that an official Microsoft Office app for the iPad has already been completed and will be submitted for approval in the next couple of weeks.
So what will it look like? Apparently, the interface looks a lot like OneNote, Microsoft’s current note-taking application for the iPad. OneNote allows users some word processing functionality with notes, to-do lists, and cloud storage. But an official Office app would incorporate more than just notes.
The app is set to start off running Word, Excel, and PowerPoint – all of which support both online and local editing. The Daily says that it’s unknown whether or not other Office properties will be a part of the launch. They do say that OneNote will be getting an update along with the new app suite. An Android version of Microsoft office it apparently not happening at this time.
Apple released their own productivity suite, iWork, on the iPad last May. The three apps (Keynote, Pages, and Numbers) were optimized for a touch screen and set at the $9.99 price point (per app). Although no price for Microsoft Office for iPad has been announced, one would think that it would at least be somewhere in that ballpark.
