Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for iPad Free Download

Microsoft has finally released a version of Microsoft Office productivity suite for iPad, offering Apple device users the ability to view, create and edit Office documents using native apps across all iOS devices. With the emphasis on Office 365 SaaS (Software as a Service) cloud offerings, coupled with Microsoft had already released Microsoft Office Mobile for iPhone,iPod touch and even Android, the Office mobile apps for iPad has been widely expected.

However, the release of Office for iPad marked an important milestone for Microsoft, as iPad, one of the most popular tablet in the market, has a bigger screen size which makes it a better device for productivity works, and as such, the general availablity of Office for iPad is also potentially another nail in the coffin for Windows RT, which has not been selling well.

Office for iPad has a lot of similarities in term of features and layout as Office Mobile for iPhone, iPod touch and Android, but it’s not simply just a ‘resized to iPad’ version of Office Mobile app for iPad. Microsoft claimed that the Office for iPad was rebuilt from scratch to be touch-friendly and taking advantage of iPad extra screen real estate. As the result, Office for iPad does feel more like a full version of Office desktop apps, allowing users to work in the familiar Office environment, with familiar navigation and menu options optimized for a touch experience. In addition, it contains more features too.

Office for iPad is actually consisting of four individual apps, namely Word for iPad, Excel for iPad, PowerPoint for iPad, and OneNote for iPad which was released earlier.

Features of Microsoft Word for iPad

• Word documents look beautiful
  • Images, tables, charts, SmartArt, footnotes, equations are all there, nicely formatted.
  • Word documents look great, just as they do on your PC or Mac.
  • View email attachments and access all your Word documents from OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint.
  • Pick up from where you left off because Word for iPad knows what you were working on last, no matter what device you were using.
• Create and edit with confidence
  • When you edit a document, your content and formatting are maintained across all your devices – PC, Mac, tablet and phone.
  • Express your ideas exactly the way you want, with rich formatting including fonts, pictures, tables, charts, textboxes, shapes, footnotes, page layout and more.
  • Track changes, add comments and work simultaneously with others on the same document.
  • Word automatically saves your document, so you can rest assured that you don’t lose all your work while you’re on the go.
  • Simply share your work with others by emailing a hyperlink or the entire document.

Features of Microsoft Excel for iPad

• Excel spreadsheets look stunning
  • Formulas, tables, charts, comments, hyperlinks, sparklines, conditional formatting are all there, so you see the whole picture.
  • Excel spreadsheets look great, just as they do on your PC or Mac.
  • View email attachments and access all your Excel spreadsheets from OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint.
  • Pick up from where you left off because Excel for iPad knows what you were working on last, no matter what device you were using.
• Create and edit with confidence
  • When you edit a spreadsheet, your content and formatting are maintained across all your devices – PC, Mac, tablet and phone.
  • Turn numbers into insights, with support for formulas, charts, tables, sorting, filtering, and more.
  • A special formula keyboard lets you add numbers and formulas rapidly – much easier than with the standard touch keyboard.
  • Excel automatically saves your spreadsheet, so you can rest assured that you don’t lose all your work while you’re on the go.
  • Simply share your work with others by emailing a hyperlink or the entire spreadsheet.

Features of Microsoft PowerPoint for iPad

• PowerPoint presentations look amazing
  • Images, tables, charts, SmartArt, transitions, animations are all there, nicely formatted.
  • PowerPoint presentations look great, just as they do on your PC or Mac.
  • When presenting, use the built-in laser pointer, pens or highlighters to get your point across.
  • View email attachments and access all your PowerPoint presentations from OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint.
  • Pick up from where you left off because PowerPoint for iPad knows what you were working on last, no matter what device you were using.
• Create and edit with confidence
  • When you edit a document, your content and formatting are maintained across all your devices – PC, Mac, tablet and phone.
  • Express your ideas exactly the way you want, with full support for rich formatting including fonts, pictures, tables, textboxes, shapes, transitions, speaker notes and more.
  • Work simultaneously with others on the same presentation.
  • PowerPoint automatically saves your presentation, so you can rest assured that you don’t lose all your work while you’re on the go.
  • Simply share your work with others by emailing a hyperlink or the entire presentation.

Office for iPad apps are ‘freemium’ applications, which means it’s available as free download, but only some functions such as viewing documents are allowed. To be able to create and edit documents, worksheets and presentations, a qualifying Office 365 subscription is required, which starts from $99.99. The Office 365 subscription will allow user to use Office productivity suite on up to 5 mobile devices, and up to 5 Windows PCs or Mac computers. Office 365 enables user to use OneDrive or SharePoint for storing the files, and performing live edits and real-time collaboration with multiple users at the same time.

Download Microsoft Office for iPad from http://www.appstore.com/microsoftoffice

Don’t want to pay? There are plenty of free alternatives. Microsoft Office Mobile is free for home user though only on iPhone, iPod touch and Android. There are also Google QuickOffice, Kingsoft Office for Word, PPT and Excel, and Apple iWork suit which consists of Pages, Numbers and Keynote, and is free for those who activate the iOS device on or after September 1st, 2013.