Office for iPad will appeal to some, but disappoint innovation-seekers

Microsoft's recently revealed Office for iPad will appeal to some users, but will leave those looking for innovative tablet-related features disappointed, according to one analyst firm.

The vendor last week announced Office for iPad - discrete apps for Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the iPad.

The apps follow a 'freemium' model - the ability to view documents is available for free to all users, but only subscribers to particular Office 365 services can edit or comment on documents.

Gartner analysts Michael A Silver and Tom Austin dissected the new offering in their recent report, 'Office for iPad Represents a Giant Step for Microsoft, but Some Users May Not Be Swayed'.

As the title suggests, the analysts feel that "many users will flock to this new product; however, others will pass it up, because they want to spend less or have learned how to work in other ways, without depending on Microsoft".

The report notes that the Apple App Store is littered with a great variety of office productivity products, including apps for word processing, note taking, spreadsheets and presentation.

These apps generally fall into a couple of categories: those that follow Microsoft's lead and attempt to maximise format and UI compatibility; and those that introduce new and innovative capabilities.

"Smaller players [in the market] will continue to compete on price and innovative players will compete on touch, usability and functionality. For organisations that want full round-trip fidelity and continue to heavily invest in Microsoft products, Office for iPad will become the strategic choice," the report said.

However, organisations allowing employees to bring their own devices into the workplace may not be able to dictate the apps users employ on their devices, and thus may not be able to get users to switch to whatever app the organisation chooses.

"To many users, full round-trip fidelity is less important, and the products they are currently using may be sufficient in that regard and better in other areas."

Consistency in interface

Those customers who desire a familiar or traditional interface will feel comfortable with Office for iPad, the analysts wrote, partly because the iPad apps' interfaces look similar to those of the desktop Windows versions of the applications.

"No iPad office product, including Microsoft's, includes all of the features of Office for Windows. Many users will be happy with the ones Microsoft has selected, but some may find they are left wanting," they wrote.

"Organisations and users may be disappointed that users can't comment using ink (which is available on the desktop version) and that additional features for threaded discussions have not been added. Organisations seeking more-innovative collaboration or document creation features will have to look elsewhere, generally at smaller vendors developing products specifically for touch-based devices, with less interest in preserving the Office legacy."

Pictured: Gartner analyst Michael A Silver