Latest Headlines

A few days ago, Microsoft finally released the Microsoft Office suite for iOS…except only for the iPhone version, and only for Office 365 subscribers (the company’s subscription service for Office, as opposed to traditional desktop packages). Office on the iPhone has been long overdue, and it’s great that it’s here, but, more important: Where is the iPad version?

On the iPhone, you can now open and edit Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint slides–with the same functionality that, basically, Windows Phone users have for the mobile Office suite. But with the tiny screen, this is best for last-minute, last-resort work on documents (or simple document viewing), not actual work.

The official Office iPad version is the one we’re waiting for. Coupled with a keyboard case (like the Kensington KeyFolio Pro), it’ll turn the iPad into a true laptop replacement for many. (It might even make fewer people buy Microsoft’s own Surface tablet, though, Tech Crunch muses.)

There’s no word yet on when Microsoft Office will land on the iPad, though we’ve seen signs it’s coming. With Office on the iPhone available now (at least, for Office 365 subscribers), it’s just a matter of time.

Office.About.com Newsday Office Software & Productivity Updates Every Tuesday

Crowdfunding sites have been around for some time, allowing individuals or companies to generate pledges for projects from writing a novel to building a robot. In similar fashion, students can now ask their contacts to Chip In toward getting a Windows PC.

If those students reach their goal, Microsoft also chips in by taking 10% off the purchase price. Early successes also get a free subscription to Office 365 University, a cloud office suite for students, which is an incredible deal to take advantage of.

This opportunity runs through September 1, 2013, but interested students should start now because getting pledges can take time. Students will need to provide a .edu email address.

(c) Image courtesy of Microsoft

Office.About.com Munday Mundane Software Chores Made Easy Every Monday

Working from home may be a goal of yours. But is telecommuting right for you? Before you find or negotiate a telecommuting position, here are some great resources to help you decide if it’s a good fit for your personality and situation:

• What Are the Disadvantages of Telecommuting?
• Save the Environment by Working from Home - Telecommute to …
• 6 Tips for Telecommuting Success

You may also want to be more acquainted with distance communication technologies and software, such as Microsoft Lync. Have a wonderful week!

Office.About.com Weekend Reading
A Review of this Site’s New Content, Every Weekend

This Father’s Day weekend, check out these free, printable templates for cards, gift coupons, and more: Microsoft’s Best Father’s Day Templates.

Looking for more templates? You may also be interested in Microsoft’s Best Fourth of July Templates or Microsoft’s Best Office Software Templates by Program. Have a fabulous weekend!

(c) Courtesy of Microsoft

Office.About.com Buyday Office Software & Productivity Deals Every Friday

Remember that rumor about a Microsoft Office version for iOS? A version known as Office Mobile was just released today, and while it is not a stand-alone solution but rather tacked on to Office 365 subscriptions, it looks like the wait is at least partially over.

Office Mobile for iPhone is officially available today in the United States and in several languages:

• English
• Catalan
• Chinese
• Croatian
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• Finnish
• French
• German
• Greek
• Hungarian
• Indonesian
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Malay
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese
• Romanian
• Russian
• Slovak
• Spanish
• Swedish
• Turkish
• Ukrainian

Next week, Microsoft will add at least 29 languages in 135 worldwide markets.

Microsoft may very well release another product for iOS in 2014, but the details are unclear as yet.

(c) Image Courtesy of Microsoft

 

Office.About.com Trendsday Future-centric Productivity Innovations Every Wednesday

Mac enthusiasts have a new rendition of the iWork office suite to look forward to.

Apple’s upcoming iWork for iCloud Apps will be accessible via iOS-compatible browsers or their device desktop, thanks to integration with its iCloud online environment and similar to Microsoft’s Web Apps for SkyDrive or Google Docs/Apps for Google Drive. It’s about time!

Tom Nelson’s Software Deals for Mac

Anyone following iWork the last year or so has been hearing crickets, so this announcement at the recent WWDC 2013 (WorldWide Developers’ Conference) is exciting. As soon as this fall, users will be able to access the beta of the new iWork for iCloud apps for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

(c) Image Courtesy of Apple

Office.About.com Newsday Office Software & Productivity Updates Every Tuesday

Today is Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday for June 2013, which is one way to keep your office software and system updated: 3 Options for Keeping Your Version of Microsoft Office Current. This month’s patch includes fixes for Microsoft Office.

“This security update resolves one privately reported vulnerability in Microsoft Office. The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted Office document using an affected version of Microsoft Office software, or previews or opens a specially crafted email message in Outlook while using Microsoft Word as the email reader. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the current user.”

For full details, visit Microsoft’s Security Bulletin site.

Office.About.com Trendsday Future-centric Productivity Innovations Every Wednesday

Mac enthusiasts have a new rendition of the iWork office suite to look forward to.

Apple’s upcoming iWork for iCloud Apps will be accessible via iOS-compatible browsers or their device desktop, thanks to integration with its iCloud online environment and similar to Microsoft’s Web Apps for SkyDrive or Google Docs/Apps for Google Drive. It’s about time!

Tom Nelson’s Software Deals for Mac

Anyone following iWork the last year or so has been hearing crickets, so this announcement at the recent WWDC 2013 (WorldWide Developers’ Conference) is exciting. As soon as this fall, users will be able to access the beta of the new iWork for iCloud apps for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

(c) Image Courtesy of Apple

Have you ever wanted to combine information from multiple tables in your database in an efficient manner? Microsoft Access 2013 offers a powerful query function with an easy-to-learn interface that makes it a snap to extract exactly the information you need from your database. In this tutorial we’ll explore the creation of a simple query.

Read the full story: Creating Queries in Access 2013

Apple showed off all the things at its WWDC developers conference today. I was surprised by Apple’s divergence from its cat-based OS X naming convention to using “Mavericks” for the next version, tickled pink by the MacBook Air Haswell updates, and, plainly, overwhelmed by all the other iCloud and iOS 7 updates. But one point Apple made today caught my eye and is significant for anyone who works on an iPad for, well, work: iWork in the iCloud.

iWork for iCloud, currently in beta, will let you open Apple’s versions of Microsoft Office software–Pages (Word), Keynote (PowerPoint), Numbers (Excel)–in any browser, on the Mac or PC (or, I’m guessing, Linux). Apple’s office suite is now truly a competitor to Microsoft Office Web Apps and Google Docs. And it will open Microsoft Office files as well.

In short, it’s like Google’s recent Microsoft Office market-share-grabbing play, Chrome Office Viewer, which opens MS Office files in Chrome and Google Docs.

The point is that everyone wants to be your office-suite-in-the-cloud, but Microsoft Office is still the standard. Between the Microsoft, Google, and Apple solutions, I think Microsoft still has the edge–but perhaps not for long.

In any case, having online, full editing access to your docs and spreadsheets (whichever office suite you choose) is a wonderful thing if you’re a web worker–especially if you use a tablet and a regular laptop/desktop for work.