So, where’s Microsoft Office for the iPhone?
Every so often, a company official pops up to say that Redmond just might sorta be working on a version for Apple’s iconic family of handheld computers, but their statements are too vague to be called promises and years later we still have nothing. What’s up with that?
Earlier today, Microsoft announced that Office 2008 for Mac Business Edition would ship on Sept. 15. Morover, a spokesman let it slip that Outlook, the company’s email, scheduling and all around enterprise chokehold application, will be a part of the next major release of Office for Mac.
“It is an exciting time for the MacBU with updates to our current products and the first public announcement about the next version of Office for Mac. For several years we have focused on providing the best Microsoft Exchange client for the Mac, and the Web Services Edition delivers that today for Entourage users,” said Eric Wilfrid, general manager, MacBU, Microsoft. “Outlook for Mac will bring features our customers have long requested — such as Information Rights Management — that make working across platforms even easier. I think people will see that this move to Outlook for Mac is more than just a name change.”
And, all of this is really cool It’s also cool that the iPhone includes support for Exchange Server, as well.
So, here we are still…
With the Blackberry already offering Micrsoft Office document editing and display functionality, a device that’s arguably a pale third to the iPhone, one wonders why aficionados of Apple’s world-changing handset are still waiting.
Yes, the rest of us can splash out for QuickOffice ($13, App Store), a third-party utility for editing and viewing MS Word and MS Excel documents, but that’s not quite the same as a native version of Redmond’s productivity suite for the iPhone.
This irony isn’t lost on Microsoft either as the April day that QuickOffice launched Stephen Elop, president, Microsoft Business Division told PCWorld that the company was was eyeing the iPhone and that Office may be coming soon, though quickly backtracked in saying, “Not yet, keep watching.”
And, that’s what many users have been doing since Office 2008 launched—watching and waiting.
So, will Microsoft every get itself together and release a native Office product for the iPhone? I’m guessing the answer’s no and that these winks and nudges from company officials should be ignored as their delaying actions meant to string users and IT managers along—ie uncertainty is the enemy of investment.
Besides, wouldn’t we all be the better if Apple put out iWork for iPhone. That would likely kill off most if not all of the noise for Office…
What’s your take?
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