According to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, a variant of the suite for touchscreens will first need to be developed.
Microsoft plans to release Office for the iPad, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed at a Gartner event in Florida. Ballmer added that a prerequisite is to first develop a version of the suite that is compatible with touchscreens, without giving further details on the timeline.
According to technology site The Verge, the CEO's revelation is in line with statements made by other Microsoft executives, away from the spotlight, arguing that users should be able to access Office from any of their devices.
The question is when the touchscreen version of the suite, which is already in the works, will be completed. After all, at the recent Build developer conference last June, Microsoft showed off a version of PowerPoint for Windows 8 tablet PCs.
This means that it won't be long before Office for tablets is released, starting with the American company's Windows 8 devices. However, it also remains to be clarified how the suite will be charged for iPad owners.
The company released Office for iPhone last June, with the application including Word, Excel and PowerPoint and available for free to owners of the Office 365 subscription service. In August, it launched the corresponding application for smartphones with Android operating system, where again Office 365 subscribers, giving them the ability to "download" the application on five smartphones, in addition to the 5 computers that can install Office 365 anyway.
Source: portal.kathimerini.gr
