Office on WP inferior to iWork on iPhone?

[leo74]

Using my phone as a business device, let me put it that way: the moment you attempt to create a PowerPoint on anything smaller than a 10 inch screen, the least of your concerns should be productivity. For Excel or Word, creating a simple document is probably an option, but let's be frank: If you have enough data to feel the need to put serious information in a document or a worksheet, doing it on your phone will not make you productive. I use Office on my phone on a daily basis. To review presentations and documents or on occasion correct a typo or some wrong info in them. Being able to do that makes me productive. But creating a PowerPoint on my phone is something I would not even remotely try to do...

 

[JamesDax]

Hell no!!

 

[unstoppablekem]

Hell no!!

On the phone apps, yes. Tablets and computers, no.

 

[FinancialP]

I think you've all been trolled or have never owned a iOS device.

Pages doesn't even create or edit PowerPoint.

Keynote does....


Pages is a lot better than Office Mobile, in about every way however.

 

[unstoppablekem]

I think you've all been trolled or have never owned a iOS device.

Pages doesn't even create or edit PowerPoint.

Keynote does....


Pages is a lot better than Office Mobile, in about every way however.

Whoops, my bad. I should've said iWork for iPhone.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Whoops, my bad. I should've said iWork for iPhone.

I fixed the title.

 

[snowmutt]

I use the office options on my WP all the time. I however, do not do any power point, so I will just give a nod to those that do.

MS needs to improve this quickly. Their corporate software is their empire, and getting WP to be able to access this is only to their advantage. I love my Office interface, but yes it is limited. One Note rocks, but I find Word and Excel only fair.

iWork, however, is not that much of a better option. I have only had limited access to it, but I find it as limiting as any other mobile work option. It may be just that I haven't spent much time to access all of it's features, but really if you are doing any heavy lifting with an Apple product, it sure as crud is not with an iPhone. It is with a Mac or an iPad.

Office is the same way. Accessing it on the go to review your documents or presentations make sense, but there is still no way the vast majority of professionals are using a mobile phone to do work. It is still a laptop, with Tablets slowly catching up. Tablets are still a consumer based device, and PC's/Laptops sell as much in a quarter and a half as Tablets do all year long, iOS/Android/Win8 combined. This is completely due to the corporate world which will not move away from the most productove way to get work done until you drag them kicking and screaming. PCs still provide the best way to get work done, and smartphones are a compliment to that, not a replacement.

As for the "Phablet" argument, the first Samsung Note was released barely three years ago, and the explosion of these large screen smartphones was really just last year. Do you see professionals grabbing their 6" screen and holding up to their faces for their important phone calls yet? Nope, not quite. Again, these are consumer devices right now for multi-media uses and gamers. Tablets are just now making it into the boardrooms. The 1520 will be nowhere near them anytime soon.

My opinion: Office will adapt. I expect to see the merging of Windows RT/WP at some point, and then mobile versions of Office will be a ton more adaptable. But MS is not moving THAT fast yet. Part of the reason Ballmer stepped aside as CEO was to get younger blood in there with more urgency. MS will not cede anymore ground in the corporate world then they already have. Let's see where they are at the end of 2014.

 

[anony_mouse]

While the lack of an option bewildered me at first a couple years back, I put some thought into it and realized that it's kinda dumb to think someone productive would ever attempt to make a PowerPoint presentation on a phone.

This seems to me to be a case of Microsoft thinking it knows better than its users.
Now, I don't want to create PPTs on my phone either, but I'd rather make some slides than write a Word document or start a spreadsheet. I could even see myself doing it in a dire emergency. Why not allow new PPTs to be created, rather than forcing someone to find an old one and delete all the content first?

 

[martinmc78]

Yes powerpoint is limited but it does have its uses. I have created ppt's at work for presentations then used my phone in order to prep for the presentation while on the move. Ok so sitting on the train looking at my phone mumbling to myself draws the occasional odd look from a fellow passenger but at least I know when I have to stand up and deliver I can. Its also good for sharing ppt's with others I don't have to go transferring or emailing my presentations I can just hand my boss my phone and let him watch what ive done. As others have mentioned why would you want to create ppt's on such a small screen anyway. Its still productive and good for minor mods just not the full suite of tools.

 

[anony_mouse]

As others have mentioned why would you want to create ppt's on such a small screen anyway. Its still productive and good for minor mods just not the full suite of tools.

Few sane people would *want* to create a Powerpoint presentation on a phone. But it's just possible that I might *need* to do it. And for a single, simple slide, it would probably be quicker than starting my laptop.
It seems a very strange omission, given that you can edit PPTs and create Word documents and spreadsheets.

 

[martinmc78]

Few sane people would *want* to create a Powerpoint presentation on a phone. But it's just possible that I might *need* to do it. And for a single, simple slide, it would probably be quicker than starting my laptop.
It seems a very strange omission, given that you can edit PPTs and create Word documents and spreadsheets.

Yeah I agree its an odd omission although I would be more inclined to create slides using one note then import them onto a ppt when I get to a full version of office.

 

[gsquared]

Are you people still going on about this?

OP: What is it you are trying to say here? That everyone in the world throw their WP's away because we cannot create PP presentations? Personally, If I couldn't view a PP then your arguement would have some merit. Personally, I wouldn't even try to create a PP on such a device. Not even if I need to. I could just see the comments from such a thing:

"WTF G? Did you make this PP on your phone or something?"

 

[unstoppablekem]

Are you people still going on about this?

OP: What is it you are trying to say here? That everyone in the world throw their WP's away because we cannot create PP presentations? Personally, If I couldn't view a PP then your arguement would have some merit. Personally, I wouldn't even try to create a PP on such a device. Not even if I need to. I could just see the comments from such a thing:

"WTF G? Did you make this PP on your phone or something?"

Let me show you another part of my post.


Also, if you want to change your text size, you need to keep tapping the letter in format to change it, and can't select an exact size. You also can't change the text style. Office may be better for PC and Tablets, but sadly, Pages is better on the phone. It's a shame, as Microsoft advertises Windows Phone as a business device, and works amazing with office stuff.



That is something else that bothers me. You going to say that isn't important too, I'm guessing?

And about the powerpoint, does it really hurt to add functionality to create PPs and edit PPs better?

 

[tomworthjr]

This should actually be an interesting race, productivity/Office-type apps on touchscreen devices. Apple has never figured out how to make competitive Office-type apps, and Microsoft hasn't figured out how to make a competitive touchscreen device (though I for one believe the tide is turning with the latest batch of Lumia and Surface devices this fall).
Who figures out the other company's bread and butter first?

 

[unstoppablekem]

This should actually be an interesting race, productivity/Office-type apps on touchscreen devices. Apple has never figured out how to make competitive Office-type apps, and Microsoft hasn't figured out how to make a competitive touchscreen device (though I for one believe the tide is turning with the latest batch of Lumia and Surface devices this fall).
Who figures out the other company's bread and butter first?

Finally, someone who understands me!

 

[bilzkh]

This is a case of logic vs. reality.

Microsoft's logic is that people wouldn't create PowerPoint from WP, in fact, users will use WP to edit, prep, review, etc. Makes sense, right?

Not in the real world, apparently.

I've been observing this trend for some years. Microsoft has a logical idea, but it gets rejected in the real world, the real world just doesn't operate according to Microsoft's logic (however sound that logic is). Just look at the hype behind PS4 over X1, or the fact that people bought sluggish Android phones over WP in 2010-2011, and, for bizarre reasons, how 100mn Windows 8 sales don't translate into solid developer support.

What Microsoft should do is meet real world needs, but add their logic as a means of differentiation from the competition.

 

[TheJoester09]

Here's a real-world example of one of the pros to using Office on WP8: I recently turned in a paper for one of my classes, and the professor sent back a graded version which utilized the Office comment function. He specifically said in his e-mail "I don't think the comments can be read from a tablet or smartphone, so you'll need to use a computer if you would like to read them." Well, I received his e-mail late at night while I was already in bed, but I wanted to check it out right then so I tried it on my Lumia, and lo and behold, I was able to view all of the comments very easily. I'm not sure if iWork can do this, but I do know that the professor uses an iPhone/iPad, and he obviously didn't think it could be done.

Another example: I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use to track my expenses. At the beginning of each pay period, I start a new sheet and save it to my SkyDrive. I pin the sheet to the start screen on my Lumia, and any time I spend money I enter it in and it automatically saves to my SkyDrive, so if I'm near a PC and want to compare the spreadsheet to my bank account, everything is there. Again, I'm not sure if this is possible in iWork, but I think it's a great example of how Office on WP8 was intended to be used.

 

[unstoppablekem]

Here's a real-world example of one of the pros to using Office on WP8: I recently turned in a paper for one of my classes, and the professor sent back a graded version which utilized the Office comment function. He specifically said in his e-mail "I don't think the comments can be read from a tablet or smartphone, so you'll need to use a computer if you would like to read them." Well, I received his e-mail late at night while I was already in bed, but I wanted to check it out right then so I tried it on my Lumia, and lo and behold, I was able to view all of the comments very easily. I'm not sure if iWork can do this, but I do know that the professor uses an iPhone/iPad, and he obviously didn't think it could be done.

Another example: I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use to track my expenses. At the beginning of each pay period, I start a new sheet and save it to my SkyDrive. I pin the sheet to the start screen on my Lumia, and any time I spend money I enter it in and it automatically saves to my SkyDrive, so if I'm near a PC and want to compare the spreadsheet to my bank account, everything is there. Again, I'm not sure if this is possible in iWork, but I think it's a great example of how Office on WP8 was intended to be used.

Which yes, it is great, but Microsoft still has a lot of room to improve.

 

[EchoRedux]

Of course Office mobile which is put on every Windows Phone without a need to pay extra to download the app will be watered down. Microsoft wants people to buy real Office. However, it appears that the functionality to actually view and edit is better than alternatives on iPhone and Android. Sure you cannot create a PowerPoint presentation or even add additional slides in PowerPoint, but for me, having Excel load properly is more important, something I've only seen WP7/8 phones do.

If Joester09's professor is correct about not being able to read comments on phones/tablets, then that probably makes Office Mobile the best choice for an phone office suite that can actually be used for collaboration.

I see the point of the thread, it's a concern that Microsoft's flagship software, office, is slowly getting behind the competition. There are some areas for improvements, but as long as it's the only choice that formats excel documents correctly, it's the only choice for me. I've used iWork and several other office suites on the iPhone and none of them work as well for me as Office on WP.

 

[unstoppablekem]

Of course Office mobile which is put on every Windows Phone without a need to pay extra to download the app will be watered down. Microsoft wants people to buy real Office. However, it appears that the functionality to actually view and edit is better than alternatives on iPhone and Android. Sure you cannot create a PowerPoint presentation or even add additional slides in PowerPoint, but for me, having Excel load properly is more important, something I've only seen WP7/8 phones do.

If Joester09's professor is correct about not being able to read comments on phones/tablets, then that probably makes Office Mobile the best choice for an phone office suite that can actually be used for collaboration.

I see the point of the thread, it's a concern that Microsoft's flagship software, office, is slowly getting behind the competition. There are some areas for improvements, but as long as it's the only choice that formats excel documents correctly, it's the only choice for me. I've used iWork and several other office suites on the iPhone and none of them work as well for me as Office on WP.

Well I rarely use excel, so I didn't you that in my statement. I would understand it would be better though, as MAN, you can do so much on Excel!