Monitoring MSFT: Office on iPad Arrives, Nadella Impresses, Build 2014 Preview

It’s hard to find any Microsoft (MSFT) coverage from last week that is not about CEO Satya Nadella launching Microsoft Office for iPad.  And lest you think all this is just a bunch of hype driven by marketing and PR, Microsoft Word for iPad seems to be very popular in the Apple App Store.  Meanwhile, the launch event last week marked Nadella’s first public appearance as CEO, inviting comparisons to his predecessor Steve Ballmer.  And coming up this week, there’s Microsoft’s Build developer’s conference, and we’ll have a preview. Here’s your update on Microsoft.

But first, let’s back up for a second and do a 30 second backgrounder of what was actually announced with this whole iPad thing.

The Office on iPad announcement

The March 27 announcement introduced Office for iPad in the Apple iTunes store. The app is free and enables viewing Office applications. To do anything more than that – edit or create files – you’ll need a full Office 365 subscription. (Which makes me wonder if this makes Office 365 a more compelling SKU for MSP customers, and if managing Office 365 becomes more important in your RMM packages. If you have an opinion, please let me know in the comments below.) Rob Trent of Windows IT Pro reports: “In essence, the freely downloadable apps today are just a better “viewer” than has been previously available on the iPad. Fully-enabled (subscribed) apps ensures that all expected Office application features are available, including markup and collaboration.”

Microsoft also added some nice new iPad-specific features, Trent reports, such as a touch-and-hold function that enables a laser pointer for PowerPoint presentations.

Microsoft plans to bring touch-enabled Office to all devices and platforms (web, tablets, smartphones, PCs, etc.), and OneDrive will be the backend to connect all platforms. Touch offerings for additional platforms such as Android and Windows 8.1 will be announced later, with the goal of “Office 365 everywhere.”

So what’s free and what do you have to pay for?

If you’ve found yourself a bit confused about the pricing for this “free” app in the iTunes store, you aren’t alone. But who ever really expected clarity from Microsoft here? Thankfully, Mary Jo Foley has created a helpful chart over here at her All About Microsoft blog that lays out what’s actually free and what’s not free.

Nadella’s debut: Two thumbs up

The introduction of Office on iPad marked Satya Nadella’s debut event as CEO of Microsoft, and observers seem to be giving him the big thumbs up. Computerworld, in a roundup of interviews with analysts about Nadella’s premiere, reported that he was a big hit.

“He was very confident, obviously a whole different character than Ballmer. Much calmer,” said Carolina Milanesi, strategic insight director of Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, told Computerworld. “…For the first time I actually see a strategy.”

That strategy is mobile first backed by cloud computing – very different from Microsoft’s traditional approach of Windows first. Indeed, the Thursday launch of Office for iPad put Microsoft’s touch-enabled productivity suite on Apple’s tablet first.

Guess what app cracked the Apple’s U.S. App Store top 10?

And, in case you thought for a second that all this Office on iPad stuff was a bunch of hype, Computerworld has reported that Microsoft’s new Word for iPad app has hit the number 6 spot in Apple’s U.S. App Store chart “Top Grossing” on Sunday. Excel and PowerPoint were at 11 and 32, respectively. (Although those ranks had slipped a bit by Monday.)

The week ahead: Build 2014

So there’s your quick roundup of last week’s Office on iPad news. So what’s in store for this week? Microsoft-centric developers will be converging on San Francisco starting Thursday for the company’s Build 2014 conference. Paul Thurrott of SuperSite for Windows will be there and he put together this post on what he expects to see and what he hopes to see at the conference.  His list includes the Windows “vision” – Microsoft’s big picture view on the OS; more information on Windows 9, and an update on Windows 8.1.

Attendees can also expect lots of sessions around Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud computing platform. Check out the full list of sessions (some of which will be streamed live) here.