Microsoft notes how Office 365 will benefit Apple customers
Business people are increasingly accessing files stored in the "cloud," and Microsoft wants in on the action. A new suite of online tools called Office 365, still in beta, is meant to appeal to those users. A recent post on the Office 365 Blog describes how the service will benefit Apple customers.
"End users still get a phenomenal experience across the Mac, Safari or iPhone so they can easily work with co-workers on PC's," notes blogger Andrew_MSFT. "The IT department also benefits with access to Admin pages and can set up one set of policies for secure access."
Apple customers can benefit in several ways. For example, Office for Mac 2011 users can share and co-author Word and PowerPoint documents via SharePoint Online. Those without Office installed can make "light edits" with SharePoint Portal, view PowerPoint broadcasts and check Exchange email with Outlook Web Access, all via Safari. iPhone users can set up Exchange Active Sync and use one of several third-party apps to view and edit MS Office documents (though there is still no official Office for iPhone app from Microsoft).
Office 365 pricing is complicated. ZDnet has put together a slideshow of the options that will likely be available when it launches in mid-2011. ZDnet notes that pricing starts at US$72 per year for the basic service.
The service could change a bit but with a rumored July launch, the feature set is probably fixed. Is Office 365 something you'd think of using, or would you prefer to go to Google or even roll your own solution using, say, Dropbox? Let us know in the comments.
[Thanks Rich for the tip!]
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Business people are increasingly accessing files stored in the "cloud," and Microsoft wants in on the action. A new suite of online tools...
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MS always make third grade product for non-MS OS users, so there is no exception from Office 365. Just take a look at, Office, Live services.
May 19 2011 at 7:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI am actually a beta tester of Office 365, solely for the hosted exchange. So far, I am very happy (except that their spam filtering isn't as robust as my previous hosted exchange provider). I haven't gotten a chance to fully explore the other options yet, though.
May 19 2011 at 4:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIn iPad / iPhone you can use SharePlus for accessing Office 365.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shareplus-office-mobile-client/id364895421?mt=8
Sync your favorite SharePoint lists and libraries automatically and take them with you in your iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch. Work with them on the go, and sync back to SharePoint when online.
I just wish PowerPoint on the Mac mirrored PPT on the PC. I can't stand using the Mac version.
For that matter, the last version of PPT on the PC that was worth using was 2003.
The easy answer... Hell No! I would sooner put a stick in my eye than be sucked into another flawed, overly complicated, bloated and over-priced offering from MSFT. They can't even fix basic bugs in their existing products, and make them easy to use, let alone moving their crap to the web.
May 18 2011 at 7:12 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWhy would I pay USD$75pa when there are plenty of great free options? Why would I *pay* to be locked into a "msft only" system. Talk about American syndrome
May 18 2011 at 5:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI've been saying for years that Microsoft should realize that they are a software company. I am a huge Apple fan, but I don't know why that means Microsoft has to fight them. They should see the enormous growth of Apple as opportunity, not competition. Think of how much Microsoft could make if they made a specific version of Windows designed for BootCamp. Optimized for mac, cut the fat out, make it sleek, fast, and small.
Microsoft has made their massive money from working with everyone and filling every niche they can find. Why are they not including Apple in that? Stop fighting and start innovating!
They still need a native OneNote app to round out the suit. The web is ok for limited use of an existing notebook.
May 18 2011 at 3:39 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThere is a native OneNote client for iPhone, but since iOS has no notion of a real file system, the cloud is the file system. There will be a native iPad version and also Lync client for both iPhone and OS X soon.
May 18 2011 at 3:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyTo clarify, The native app needs to be for OS X. I already use fusion an office 2010 and the iOS app. I want the total integration that Windows users enjoy across the office suite.
May 18 2011 at 4:28 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyMSFT or Google boy what a choice!
I think I will wait to see what Apple has thought of in that realm.
Basically all 365 is just Sharepoint with the ability to use applications such as word and excel on the web. However last time I tried it you still could not use it on the iPad. It has great potential for cloud computing since it has all the Sharepoint features like document history and automatic updating, etc just need to step up there game and make it usable all around
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