Reviews Michael Grothaus 13:45, 29 Mar 2014
Mike goes hands upon with Microsoft's newly released apartment of Office applications for iPad
Typical Price: 79.99Latest Prices: Office Pros: Great design. Wide array of facilities ported from a desktop. Free to make use of to view documents.Cons: Its a subscription-based app. The capability for we to make use of Office depends upon whether Microsofts servers have been working to validate your Office 365 account. For me they werent today, so I was locked out of being able to edit documents for an Office apartment I paid for. No capability to print documents.Verdict: Office for iPad is off to a great start as good as Microsoft Office lovers wont want to not download it. However, a subscription-based remuneration model creates Office for iPad a non-starter for those who have been already regulating great, free alternatives like Apples iWorkWell, Microsofts new Office for iPad apartment is finally here. And a association astounded most by releasing 3 dedicated apps Word, Excel, as good as PowerPoint instead of one categorical Office Mobile app like they did for a iPhone (that app is right away free, btw). So has a wait been worth it? We delve into a hottest apartment of iPad apps upon a market right right away to find out.
Design
Before we look during a individual apps, lets speak about a design of Office for iPad as a whole. Surprisingly, Microsoft has hit it out of a park here. They did a exact opposite of which most assumed they would do. That is, instead of usually scaling up their Office Mobile for iPhone app, Microsoft took a bold (and correct) step of completely redesigning a Office apps for iPad.
And it did a very great job, indeed. When regulating any of a 3 apps it looks as good as feels some-more like a web or desktop versions of Office than a mobile version. This is a very, very great thing. Both a UI as good as UX have been laid out brilliantly.
Upon launching any of a 3 apps youll be asked to sign into your Office 365 comment or buy a subscription right there. You can also bypass signing in all together, but then we usually have read-only access to documents. You cant edit any.
Once past a sign in screen it becomes evident how good Microsoft though out Office for iPad. Youre presented with a browser screen which allows we to access your Office 365 comment settings (complete with seeing your profile picture in a upper lefthand corner). Below which in a bar which runs upon a left hand side of a screen youll find 3 buttons.
New takes we to a template chooser in a Office app youre in. Here we can select to create a new blank request or create a request built upon an impressive series of templates.
The next symbol is Recents as good as this allows we to fast access your most recently opened documents. Below which symbol is Open which gives we access to all a Office documents upon your iPad or ones which have been saved to Microsofts OneDrive or SharePoint clouded cover properties.
The rub here is which Microsoft hasnt built in support for any alternative clouded cover sharing services like Apples iCloud or, some-more importantly, Dropbox. The reason for this is obvious: Microsoft wants we locked into their ecosystem. Though they cant be blamed for which (Apple does a same with iCloud) its a shame because a user loses out.
Once we select to open an existing or create a new request youre taken into a categorical app itself. Heres where a Office apps begin to differ (obviously). Well look during each below, but first its worth touching upon a look as good as feel of a categorical interfaces, which have been a same no matter what app youre in.
Surprisingly, all a Office apps look right during home in Apples iOS 7. They feature a flat, muted design as good as sport a standard ribbon interface which Office users have been familiar with. Nothing feels cramped or squeezed in a apps layout either; something which cant always be said for a desktop chronicle of Office. The clean, thin lines as good as copiousness of white space creates Office for iPad worthy of Apples high design standards.
Cost, as good as about which Office 365 subscription...
Okay, right away which Ive praised Microsoft a fair amount, let me start to tear them apart. The problem with Office for iPad is its price model. Why, why, why did Microsoft have to tie these apps into a Office 365 subscription plan? This will be a kiss of death for many. People upon iOS like to feel they own their apps which is, they compensate for them once as good as can make use of them forever.
Thats not possible with Office for iPad as good as it will keep it from being adopted as a office apartment of preference because of it. In a UK an Office 365 subscription costs 7.99 a month or 79.99 a year. For which price we get access to all 3 Office apps, as good as Office apps upon Mac as good as PC (up to five copies each). But a problem for Microsoft is which iWork as good as a series of alternative excellent office apps (Drive, for instance) have been accessible for free for all iOS users. Free!
Because of this, as good as since all of these free office suites can edit as good as share Office documents, why would anyone take up Office upon iPad if they have to keep paying for it month after month? The easy answer here is which businesses will do it, but I don't see how Microsoft will generate any extra revenue this way. Businesses which need Office already have an Office 365 subscription as good as they dont need to compensate any extra for Office for iPad use. That means Microsoft has done no new revenue from these people with Office for iPads release.
As for people without existing Office 365 subscriptions...after my experience today I would tell everyone not to purchase Office for iPad as long as it is tied to Office 365. Thats because, frustratingly, all a Office for iPad apps have been currently locking me out of my Office 365 subscription. I try to log in but all a apps keep telling me my password is wrong - even though which same password works usually fine upon alternative Microsoft sites.
This exemplifies a problem with subscriptions. If something goes wrong upon Microsofts end like their servers not recognizing your valid password, for example, then a user is locked out of a capability to edit their documents until Microsoft fixes things.
Ive never once been locked out of a capability to edit iWork documents upon my iPad because I own a actual iWork apps instead of usually leasing them. As todays Office 365 login troubles show, Office for iPad is hindered because of a revenue model Microsoft chose, as good as it is because of a drawbacks of which model which users should look during other, free office options first.
Word
Revenue model aside, a rest of Office for iPad is off to a great start. Thats nowhere some-more evident than in Microsofts flagship product: Word.
Again, if youve used any recent chronicle of Office for a web or desktop youll feel right during home here. At a top of a screen we have five menu items: Home, Insert, Layout, Review as good as View. Tapping each one reveals a ribbon with further commands. Below Home, for example, youll find all of your standard font options (colors, types, bold, italics, underline) as good as formatting commands, together with bullets as good as lists.
Tap a Insert ribbon as good as youll have access to an impressive array of most every Insert feature we find upon a desktop, together with tables, shapes, text boxes, as good as pictures. Right right away pictures can usually be inserted from your iOS camera roll, but we hope Microsoft broadens this in a future.
The association has also done some excellent things with picture insertion. When we insert a picture into a request we can drag it around as good as a text upon a page wraps effortlessly to fit around it. Tap one of a anchor points upon a picture to fast drag to resize it.
Under Layout youll find options to set page orientation as good as margins, set text direction, as good as add columns as good as headers as good as footers. The Review menu shows usually how much Microsoft sees documents as a collaborative process. You can toggle Track Changes upon as good as off as good as daub individual icons to skip back as good as forth through peoples comments, choosing to reply or delete each one. The View menu is where youll find your spell check options as good as have a capability to view rulers as good as word counts.
Finally, a File symbol in a upper right corner allows we to turn upon Autosave, which automatically saves every change we make to a iPad. Heres where we can also rename your document, duplicate it, restore it to a previous chronicle as good as view its properties.
Excel
As with Word, a facilities of Excel have been vast. The ribbon menus during a top here include Home, Insert, Formulas, Review as good as View. While most of a commands in a menus have been a same as in Word, lets take a look during which one different, all-important one: Formulas.
Microsoft has really pimped out a formulas Excel power users make use of upon a daily basis as good as done them easy to access as good as make use of upon a iPad. The first symbol in a Formulas ribbon is a trusty AutoSum. Tap it as good as youll find a most-used functions together with sum, average, count, max, as good as min. Next to AutoSum youll find two alternative dedicated duty buttons: Recent, which gives we quick access to your most recently-used functions, as good as Financial, which gives we easy access to a host of financial functions. You also have a host of alternative duty submenus together with Logical, Date & Time, Lookup & Reference, Math & Trig, as good as more.
A really brilliant thing which Microsoft has done with Excel for iPad, as good as which Googles Google Drive for iOS could take a pointer from, is a association has built in a special numeric series pad to a standard iOS keyboard, which allows we to fast daub in numbers in a some-more intuitive, finger-friendly way than a standard iOS keyboard traditionally presents them.
One thing Excel for iPad doesnt offer is pivot tables. Regular users wont miss them, but your hardcore Excel fans might find it hard to maintain some of their some-more advanced spreadsheets without this.
PowerPoint
The final entry into a Office for iPad apartment is PowerPoint. For a PowerPoint product, its impressive how theyve managed to move it to a touchscreen without messing it up too much. But a thing with PowerPoint upon any platform is once youve used Apples Keynote, we realize how limited as good as cumbersome PowerPoint really is.
The ribbon menus during a top of PowerPoint include Home, Insert, Transitions, Slide Show as good as Review. The formatting as good as insert facilities have been pretty much a same across all Office for iPad apps, so lets speak about a PowerPoint facilities which have been different: namely transitions as good as effects.
Microsoft has built in an impressive 38 transitions users can insert between slides. These cover everything from your wipes to your fades, as good as we can apply each one with a daub of a button. But what I really want to mention is a awesome Laser Pointer slideshow feature. When we begin playing a slideshow from a iPad we can daub as good as hold upon any partial of a screen while a slideshow is live to move up a red laser pointer. As we drag your finger around a screen, a laser pointer follows your touch with precision.
This is immensely handy for people who have been regulating PowerPoint upon a iPad to project a slideshow to a roomful of people upon an outmost monitor. As we drag your finger around upon a screen a alternative viewers in a room will simply see a red laser pointer dot upon a screen, which allows we to call their courtesy to any element we want.
Verdict
In this review Ive touched upon a first great as good as bad points of Office for iPad. But like iWork, a office apartment is so advanced which an entire book could be written upon all its features. But a real question here is: should we buy Office for iPad?
The great news is which if we already have an Office 365 subscription, youve already bought Office for iPad simply download it as good as log in (if we can). For a rest of you, a answer to whether we should buy this is probably not.
Unless we have been a Microsoft Office power user as good as live or die by its apartment (in which case, as stated above, youll probably already have an Office 365 subscription), I cant recommend anyone bombard out 79.99 year after year when iWork as good as copiousness of alternative great office suites have been accessible upon a iPad for free.
Microsoft has done a great job with Office for iPad, but not for a price of recurring subscriptions. Had they priced each app during 6.99, or even 9.99, I would have said to snap up a one we make use of most (or all three). But until which happens Office for iPad is strictly usually for those which need these apps as partial of their job in which case we should ask your association to fork up a money for a subscription.
TabletsiOSMicrosoft OfficeApple iPad AirApple iPad MiniApple iOS 7.1