Office is all set for Apple’s iPad Pro and more

Instead, Microsoft says that it will update its Office mobile apps accordingly when the new iPad Pro, iOS 9 and WatchOS 2 are available.

The deals are significant, but not enough for the iPad Pro to become the device of choice inside businesses, said J.P. Gownder, vice president and principal analyst at consulting firm Forrester Research. Its Microsoft Translator app can bring key translated phrases to the watch face of the users and it will adjust the phrases to match the location and time of day.

But, writes Shah, “one important implication is that this change is making iPad Pro closer to a 2-in-1/Ultrabook in form-factor”.

The iPad Pro is Apple’s version of the Microsoft Surface, although that doesn’t mean you’ll be seeing Mac OS – this is still an iOS device.

I suspect next year or the year after, Apple will “discover” how to put a trackpad onto its keyboard cover and call it another revolution, plus adding a special pocket to keep the Pencil next to the iPad without scratching it.

We think that a combination of productivity software support from Microsoft and Ultrabook-like non-Intel hardware from OEMs such as Apple and Samsung could potentially start eating into Intel’s core notebook business in both consumer and enterprise end-markets. Apple also claims the two devices offer improved energy efficiency and battery life. It isn’t. And it usually succeeds.

Let’s see how these two apps stack up against the iPad Pro’s larger screen real estate.

But the one area where Microsoft is numerically superior is the desktop.

That Apple has reversed itself and followed Microsoft’s lead on tablets might be viewed as a sign of weakness.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has pledged to turn this around.

In the main, Apple need not even consider Microsoft a rival any more; the Cupertino outfit makes more money from its iPhone line than Microsoft makes from its entire line of products.

Late Apple co-founder Jobs unabashedly fired barbs at Microsoft, which was portrayed as an evil empire overlord while the iconic California was a rebel force.