Today, Microsoft made a bold move in making the Microsoft Office products: Word, Excel and PowerPoint, free for Apple iPad and iPhone users. Previously, Microsoft launched the products for iPad, but was charging $7 per month to use them. But faced with other companies like Evernote and Google developing comparable products that work on touch screens, Microsoft may not have had any choice but to retain (and hopefully gain) users by offering the software free. Today’s announcement also brings the Office software to iPhone for the first time, requiring iOS 7.1 or higher. The apps work in conjunction with Dropbox for cloud saving and syncing. Microsoft says they are working on a version of apps for Android tablets, and are rolling out beta apps, expected to be fully functional in 2015. Interestingly enough, Microsoft still hasn’t developed fully touch-enabled apps for their Office suite for their own mobile OS. How does Microsoft plan to make any money from free software? The company will still charge for its business software, and require an Office 365 subscription to edit documents on OneDrive for Business or Dropbox for business. “It’s not a total strategic shift, as much of an extension of the existing strategy,” said Microsoft’s Office’s Director of Product, Michael Atalla.
