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Microsoft unveiled a version of its popular Office software suite for iPad tablets today as the company’s new chief moved to expand its ‘Internet cloud’ footprint.
Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella laid out a vision for making the company the master of programmes and services offered in the cloud for whatever gadgets people prefer.
The US technology titan underscored that goal with the release of Office software tailored for iPads made by long-time rival Apple.
“Today is the first step on a journey to make this a great innovation vector for all of Microsoft,” Nadella said in his first press briefing since taking the helm of the company.
“We are committed to making our applications run cross-platform.”
The news comes with Microsoft’s Surface having only limited impact in the fast-growing tablet market led by Apple and its iPad.
Nadella said he wants to provide full-feature versions of its widely used programmes available for all types of devices as one aspect of Microsoft’s overall strategy under his watch.
He was adamant that the company is committed to Windows operating systems for powering computers and promised more along those lines would be revealed at Microsoft’s “build” conference for developers next week in San Francisco.
“There is no trade-off,” Nadella said of offering programmes and cloud services for devices that compete with Windows-powered smartphones, tablets or computers.
“It is about being able to excel where ever our customers are.”
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint programmes in the Office software suite can be downloaded free from Apple’s online App Store and used to view data or documents and make presentations.
In a spin on the “freemium” model common in the world of mobile applications, paid subscriptions to Microsoft’s cloud-based Office 365 service are needed to create or edit documents using Office on iPad.
Microsoft sought to emphasise that the software was created with the iPad in mind.
“This is definitely not the Windows application ported to iPad,” Microsoft General Manager Julia White said while demonstrating on an iPad during a briefing in San Francisco.
Presentations, spreadsheets or documents created are saved on Microsoft servers using its OneDrive online data storage service and can be access from a range of devices.
More than a billion people use Office, according to the Redmund, Washington-based technology titan.
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