You know how they say if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em?
That has long been Microsoft’s approach to Apple when it comes to offering some of its software packages to the rival company’s platforms.
That is to say, Microsoft Office has been available on Apple’s Mac operating systems for years, and now the company is ready to bring that same level of platform support to the iPad.
BGR reports that an app entitled “Office for iOS” will be available later this year, potentially as early as this summer. The Daily also captured a picture of what appears to be said app.
Microsoft is not currently playing that hard in the tablet market, but that is quickly and vastly going to change. The software giant will launch Windows 8 later this year, and a huge chunk of the strategy for this new OS is tablets.
For the first time, it seems that Microsoft developed its new Windows platform with a non-traditional computer platform as the primary focus. Tablets are key to Windows 8’s success. Desktops and laptops appear to be secondary.
So it will be a balancing act for Windows as it strives to make money by offering various products on operating systems like iOS, while also making sure Windows 8 has enough competitive advantages to make it marketable. But Office is something that should not be exclusive to Microsoft platforms.
