One Day After Release, Microsoft iPad Office Apps Top App Store Charts

In his first major public event as Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella unveiled on Thursday at a press event in San Francisco a long-awaited version of Microsoft Office suite for iPad, bringing productivity applications Word, Excel and PowerPoint to iPad users.

Just like Office for iPhone, all three apps will be free downloads and will include viewing and presenting capabilities free of charge. But to create and edit documents, you’ll need a Microsoft 365 subscription, which costs $6.99/month or $69.99/year for personal use, and $9.99/month, or $99.99/year for a Home Premium package allowing access from multiple computers and mobile devices. There are also separate business options available as well, with billing based on total seats.

Office 365 subscribers can simply add an iPad as one of their chosen devices included in their subscription benefits, 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, enabling people to read and present documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Office for iPad brings full file fidelity across Office on PC, Mac, tablet and phone, and along with cloud storage from OneDrive or OneDrive for Business your files are up to date, wherever you need them on whatever device you want to use.

Additional details, a first-run walkthrough, and an FAQ are included in a separate blog post from Microsoft.

The press conference is avialable for on-demand replay. Microsoft also has published its press release.

Microsoft acknowledged soon after the introduction of the original iPad back in 2010 that it was looking at the possibility of bringing its Office suite to the tablet. its plans remained in flux, however, with the company reportedly reluctant to embrace the iPad as it sought to push forward with its own Windows tablet initiative with Surface.

Just a day after being released into the App Store Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint now take the top three spots in the Top Free iPad app list. The redesigned Microsoft OneNote follows in the number four spot.

Microsoft is paying a 30-percent cut to Apple on Office 365 subscription purchases made within the Office for iPad apps, as Re/code reported. Both Nadella and Apple CEO Tim Cook exchanged pleasantries on Twitter after the unveiling of Office for the iPad.

Welcome to the #iPad and @AppStore! @satyanadella and Office for iPad
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 27, 2014

Thanks @tim_cook, excited to bring the magic of @Office to iPad customers #cloud4mobile
— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) March 27, 2014

All three of Microsoft iPad Office apps can be downloaded from the App Store for free:

- Download Microsoft Word for iPad

- Download Microsoft Excel for iPad
- Download Microsoft PowerPoint for iPad

Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPad.


Read also:

• Apple iWork vs. Microsoft Office 365 vs. Google Docs

• Edit Office files and present on the go with hopTo for iPad

• How to Delete Photos from iPhone?

• How to Use Find My iPhone Pre and After the Losing of Your iPhone

Data source: Microsoft via MacRumors