If you are an iPad user, and use MS Office on your desktop, then up until now you have had no choice but to find an alternative to Word Excel & Powerpoint when on the move. Whilst there are some great alternatives out the (Apple iWorks, Docs to Go to name 2). If you are looking for consistency then the lack of office on the iPad has always been a sore point (well for me at least). But no more! As earlier this year Microsoft launched Word, Excel and Powerpoint apps for the Apple tablet. But what are they like. On the upside, they look and feel very like their desktop cousins, and if you are used to using office, then the tablet equivalents will feel very familiar. Furthermore they work well with the touch interface. All in all, a good experience when compared to the other Office Apps out there. However, there are a couple of down sides. First, and biggest in my opinion, is the complete lack of support for Dropbox. The cloud connectivity is restricted to SharePoint & OneDrive (Microsoft’s answer to dropbox), but with so many people using Dropbox for their cloud storage, I think that this is a big omission. The second factor may or may not be an issue, depending on whether you are currently signed up to Office 365 (Microsoft’s subscription based office solution). If you are already a 365 subscriber, then the apps are free to download and use, so no problem. If however you are not, you will need to sign up before you can use them as they are exclusively available to 365 subscribers. If you are a heavy user of Microsoft products then 365 makes sense. For about £100 +VAT per year (less than £10/month) you get access to all the latest Office products plus an exchange account for email. Whats more you can install the office software on multiple devices, so if you use it in the office and at home, both copies are included in the subscription. You will find a more complete review of office for ipad here. You can download the word, excel and powerpoint apps from the iTunes app store. You can also find out more about office 365 here.
