One of the cornerstones of upcoming Windows 8 tabletswill be Microsoft Office, but will that be a deal-maker for buyers?
Any Intel-based Windows 8 Pro tablet — like the one coming from Hewlett-Packard — will be able to run the regular version of Office — just as it runs today on any Intel-based PC.
And, in April, Microsoft preannounced that tablets running the RT version of Windows 8 will come with Office.
While there is speculation that Microsoft will initially ship a “preview” version of Office 2013 RT (upgradeable soon thereafter) and that the RT version will lack a few features, it’s a big weapon in Microsoft’s arsenal nevertheless.
Big enough that Google acquired QuickOffice — which offers varying levels of compatibility with MS Office — in June in anticipation of the real version of Office making its way to mobile devices like tablets.
And big enough that getting Office to run reliably on the iPad has been kind of a holy grail. (There’s iWork and Microsoft Office 365 but neither are a complete or necessarily satisfactory solution for the iPad.)
And, needless to say, Office is de rigueur at businesses across the world and it will help Microsoft and its partners market tablets to corporations.
