14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft loses billions of dollars because it keeps Office a Windows-exclusive product, analysts suggest, but it appears that the company is now ready to do something about this.
Qi Lu, the head of Microsoft's Applications and Services division, said during the company’s meeting with analysts that touch-based versions of Office are under development right now and, in addition to Windows 8 devices, Android and iOS tablets and smartphones will also get them.
“But within the Office suite today we have versions of products that are designed for the desktop, for mouse and keyboard. They are available on Windows and on Mac. And they are touch-enhanced for Windows, but they're not designed to be touch first. And then we have Web versions of those apps available across all the devices, and those apps are also available via Terminal Services,” Qi Lu explained.
While no release date has been provided, Lu added that the touch-based Office productivity suite would include Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
“Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and we will bring these apps to Windows devices, and also to other devices in ways that meets our customers' needs, and the customer value of those experiences, and in ways that economically make sense for Microsoft, and at a proper timetable. That's how we think about making these decisions as the question is being posed,” he said.
Sources close to the matter previously indicated that Microsoft was planning to bring the Office productivity suite on Android and Linux the following year, but the company has never publicly talked about such plans.
This is the first time when Microsoft actually admits that Office is projected to arrive on non-Windows devices, so until more details on the release date are provided, your only option to use Office on Android or iOS is to launch the web-based version.