It would seem that Microsoft is set to release Microsoft Office in the coming year. A lot of reports stated that we would see it around March of 2013. However, it has been revealed that the iOS version only is expected to be coming out in February or March. The Android version isn’t expected until a few months later in May.
It is said that Microsoft Office will be released with a free ‘read-only’ option. However, to edit anything you will need an Office 365 subscription. As of right now you can expect that to run you around $6/month or $72 a year! Based off the prices for Office 365 on their website. Which really brings up the question, “Should Microsoft even bother?” They also noted that the apps,
“won’t go very far in attempting to replace regular full use of a desktop Office version.”
Looking at the competition, Microsoft Office looks like it’ll be dead on arrival thanks to its cost and expected shortcomings. First you have Quickoffice Pro for a one time cost of $14.99 which allows for full editing of Microsoft Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, as well as more features that make the app shine. You also have other premium apps like OfficeSuite Pro 6, DocumentsToGo, and many others. However, you even have free options like Dropbox, which only lets you do word editing. Even Google’s Drive which is my favorite out of all of them. Not only can you edit all types of files, you even take a photo of printed text and convert it to a Google Docs format! Best of all its free, and any document saved on Google Drive using a Google Docs format doesn’t count against your total drive space. Leaving you to wonder, does Microsoft Office really expect this service to sell?
What do you think of the Microsoft Office app? What document editor do you use now, if you have one? Let us know in the comments below!