Office for iPad hasn’t been in the App Store for very long, and it has already done surprisingly well. Microsoft recently bragged that Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote have been downloaded 12 million times combined in a week.
Microsoft won’t say how many Office 365 subscriptions have been bought through its new apps. Anyone can download them for free to view documents, but the editing features have to be unlocked with an in-app purchase.
The team behind Office for iPad took to Reddit today to answer questions about how the suite of apps was made, what took so long, and what’s planned for the future. Here are the five most interesting revelations:
1. Steve Ballmer gave the go-ahead to release Office for iPad.
Newly appointed CEO Satya Nadella announced Office for iPad to the world, but Ballmer was the one that pulled the trigger.
2. Microsoft took so getting it out the door so it could create the “highest possible quality Office experience.”
Yeah, right. Also, Steve Jobs was that “wise man.”
3. Printing is coming in a future update.
4. There surprisingly wasn’t any drama from Apple when Office was submitted to the App Store.
Apple takes a 30% cut of all Office 365 subscriptions purchased within the apps. That policy was rumored to be a point of contention within Microsoft and part of the reason for the delay.
5. The code between Office for iPad and Mac is shared, and a big Mac update is coming soon.
Finally.
Source: Reddit
