Microsoft Office Touch For Android To Overtake Windows 8 Version

When asked why Microsoft brought the iPad version of its core Office apps to market before they launched the Windows variant, CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, said that the reason was quite simple: Market share. Therefore, it should not surprise anyone that the Android tablet version of Microsoft’s touch-first Office suite looks to be coming to the market ahead of the Windows 8 version. The Metro-Style Windows version of the touch-first Word, PowerPoint, and Excel bundle is now looking more like the spring 2015 than the fall 2014, which was the most recent rumored availability date as per some sources.

Microsoft has not yet commented on these claims. Microsoft Office is the dominant productivity suite on Windows operating systems today. But Microsoft Corporation is increasingly focused on being a cross-platform services and software provider. Nadella has made it clear that the marching orders for Microsoft these days include not being bound to one app, one device, or one platform. For the time being, Office is still one of the sources of income for Microsoft. To keep Microsoft Office strong, Microsoft needs to do more than just continue to shove new features into the Office for Windows OS. Microsoft needs to be where the users are. In the mobile space, the majority of the users are on Android and iOS.

At the Build 2013 conference, Microsoft showed off an alpha version of the touch-first version of PowerPoint. Officials claimed that Microsoft’s plan had been to deliver those touch-first apps in the year 2014. The Windows Store apps still were on a course of launch in the fall of 2014. But with the recent rumors, it sounds like the new priority is getting the promised versions of Excel, Word and PowerPoint to the market. Microsoft officials said in March 2014 that the timing for the Android version of the touch-first apps was not solid yet. It is being rumored that the plan is to make them available before the end of the calendar year 2014.

The spring 2015 date is when the Threshold Windows 9 is expected to hit. Such an SKU would need a version of Windows that does not need the desktop/Win32 environment to run. That is when the Metro Style/Windows Store versions of Excel, Word, and PowerPoint become a necessity. Microsoft Office team is also believed to be updating the desktop versions of the entire Office apps. If you wish to know more on this news, you can contact the Microsoft tech support team.