Microsoft was none too pleased yesterday when The Daily reported on the existence of Microsoft’s Office for iPad app. They claimed our story was based on “rumors and speculation” and the images we ran were not Microsoft products — then they called us out on Twitter.
Let’s get one thing straight: We did not fabricate this story, nor did we fake the images in any way. A Microsoft employee, not a contractor, demoed a prototype of the app for us. We were repeatedly told that it wasn’t the final build and we did not report it as such, which is probably why Microsoft has said that it isn’t their software. Truth is, there are probably several versions of the launch screen being reviewed internally.
However, another Microsoft employee who is much closer to the project has confirmed to us several times over the last few months that Office for iOS is real and that it would be launching soon. We originally reported on this very thing back in November and a few weeks later, Microsoft released OneNote for iOS. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
What’s being lost on everyone is the simple fact that Microsoft is pushing the Metro design language to every non-Windows platform. Why? To get everyone and anyone accustomed to the new UI before the launch of Windows 8 later this year. You saw it first on the Zune, then Windows Phone 7 and even on the Xbox 360. It’s what ties all of Microsoft’s different units together, so that they’ll seamlessly work together in the future.
One more thing: The red tile on the launch screen, which looks oddly familiar to the icon for Windows remote desktop connection, may allow users to access documents stored in Microsoft’s SkyDrive service. This was not working when we saw it and it’s unclear if it will make it into the final version.
Microsoft declined to comment further on the matter.
– With Matt Hickey
Let’s get one thing straight: We did not fabricate this story, nor did we fake the images in any way. A Microsoft employee, not a contractor, demoed a prototype of the app for us. We were repeatedly told that it wasn’t the final build and we did not report it as such, which is probably why Microsoft has said that it isn’t their software. Truth is, there are probably several versions of the launch screen being reviewed internally.
However, another Microsoft employee who is much closer to the project has confirmed to us several times over the last few months that Office for iOS is real and that it would be launching soon. We originally reported on this very thing back in November and a few weeks later, Microsoft released OneNote for iOS. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
What’s being lost on everyone is the simple fact that Microsoft is pushing the Metro design language to every non-Windows platform. Why? To get everyone and anyone accustomed to the new UI before the launch of Windows 8 later this year. You saw it first on the Zune, then Windows Phone 7 and even on the Xbox 360. It’s what ties all of Microsoft’s different units together, so that they’ll seamlessly work together in the future.
One more thing: The red tile on the launch screen, which looks oddly familiar to the icon for Windows remote desktop connection, may allow users to access documents stored in Microsoft’s SkyDrive service. This was not working when we saw it and it’s unclear if it will make it into the final version.
Microsoft declined to comment further on the matter.
– With Matt Hickey
