Today's juicy Apple rumor is that Microsoft is planning to bring some form of its Office software suite to the iPad. For a company whose business is based on selling software for the most popular hardware platforms, this make a lot of sense. And for customers using the ubiquitous Word application, it's huge.
The news comes from the iPad newspaper The Daily, whose sources say that Microsoft is "actively working on adapting its popular software suite for Apple’s tablet." Furthermore, the apps will likely be compatible with other mobile versions of Office (like those on Windows 7 Phone) and Office 365, which is kind of like a cross between Apple's iCloud and Google Docs.
The Daily also says that a $10 price point is "likely," and that the apps could ship early in 2012.
I don't use any Microsoft software regularly, but I know plenty of people who are forced to stick with Word even though they'd love to do their work on an iPad. The Lady, for instance, needs Word's "Track Changes" function, as well as proper English and Catalan spell checks (she translates). Not even Apple's Mac version of Pages can handle this, so a proper version of Word on the iPad would probably sell ridiculously well.
And why not? Microsoft's own mobile strategy is somewhat flagging, despite the excellent but slow-selling Windows Phone 7. It makes sense to sell to the largest tablet audience out there.
Microsoft plans to get its Office software suite on the iPad [The Daily via MacStories]
