The new and updated Microsoft Office for iPad is finally out and will be free; additional applications include Office Mobile apps for iPhone and Android phones.
So how free is free for Microsoft, it appears that viewing documents will be free, editing them or creating new documents will require the user to have a subscription to the Office 365 service.
The company has also announced the Enterprise Mobility Suite, a set of cloud services to help businesses manage corporate data and services on the devices people use at work and at home.
“Microsoft is focused on delivering the cloud for everyone, on every device. It’s a unique approach that centers on people — enabling the devices you love, work with the services you love, and in a way that works for IT and developers,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer for Microsoft.
The Office 365 is already available and subscribers can add an iPad as one of their chosen devices included in their subscription, and can create and edit documents with Word for iPad, PowerPoint for iPad and Excel for iPad.
These apps are available as free downloads from the App Store.
The company said that Office for iPad apps have a familiar look and feel that are unmistakably Office but are built from the ground up for iPad, factoring in the unique nature of touch and functionality native to iPad along with what people most commonly want to do on a tablet.
In the future, the company confirmed that it will bring Office apps to the Windows Store and other popular platforms. In addition to Office for iPad, they’ve now made Office Mobile for iPhone and Android phones available for free.