Usefulness of Microsoft Office on WP8 devices?

[himmatsj]

So, coming directly from Microsoft, I expected MS Office to pack some nifty features on WP8. But I am disappointed.

I have used Google Drive on Android/iOS, and also Office Suite Pro on Android...and those seem to offer more features for Word, Excel and PP. For example, the Word version in MS Office here is just so stripped down it feels like typing in notepad.

And then, there's no PP at all.

Am I missing something or what? Can somebody please explain to me how this is a feature on WP8 devices, and why are Android/iOS users clamoring for MS Office on Android/iOS when they have better solutions there?

Thanks!

 

[N_LaRUE]

You can open PowerPoints on your phone and view/review/edit them.

The mobile version of Office on WP is mostly for review/small edit/reading purposes. Yes it lacks a lot of features and I'm guessing it will get a bit of a bump come WP8.1, maybe for the larger phablets there will be a special version to utilise the screen size.

That's it. There's a whole help section about it over on The Smartphone Reinvented Around You | Windows Phone (United States)

 

[AndrewL920]

I hate Microsoft Word on my phone. It is like a notepad.

 

[taymur]

I always fail to know if I opened a word document say in font 1, then edit it, will it stay in font 1, or will what I wrote be in font 2?

 

[himmatsj]

You guys should really see Office Suite Pro on Android. I'm not kidding when I say it has a million times more features and functions than the official MS Office app on WP8.

Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobisystems.editor.office_registered&hl=en

 

[12Danny123]

Apparently MS is going to update the MS office app on WP along with adding a Office Metro app for W8.1

 

[himmatsj]

Yes. I also hope the make MS Office more functional for phablets at least, what with their additional screen real estate.

 

[Kel Bin]

I created a account to ask this qn specifically.

does the wp8 office's powerpoint support powerpoint's smart chart (those bar chart, pie chart etc)?
Apparently none of the android's office suite support this, so i was wondering if it worked on wp8. i tried office suite, quickoffice, kingsoft, olive, thinkfree, smart office, docs to go and they cant render this.

Anyway, i think keynote on IOS is more polished than office on wp8 phone and office on android for powerpoint as its the only app that allows proper support for slide transition and animation.
On android, you can export doc, ppt as pdf easily using office suite.Not only can you edit ppt on android, you can even add in new slides, text box etc, but still limited in some ways.

 

[AndrewL920]

ms word in wp8 looks like a notepad

 

[snowmutt]

I use One Note a ton. I think it is one of the most useful tools on any smartphone. It connects seamlessly to the cloud and allows for cross-device editing as simple as you please.

I do feel most of the other tools of Office could use work. While I am not sure why you would want to edit a power point on anything smaller then a 10" tablet, the rest of the office documents need better edit features on a smartphone if it is going to be a real strength of WP.

 

[tgp]

I use One Note a ton. I think it is one of the most useful tools on any smartphone. It connects seamlessly to the cloud and allows for cross-device editing as simple as you please.

I do feel most of the other tools of Office could use work. While I am not sure why you would want to edit a power point on anything smaller then a 10" tablet, the rest of the office documents need better edit features on a smartphone if it is going to be a real strength of WP.

Yes, I don't think that Office on WP has much, if any, advantage over the Office apps on iPhone & Android, with the notable exception of Office 365 being required on iPhone & Android. Although it's a touted advantage of WP, since Microsoft released Office apps for iPhone & Android, WP doesn't hold that advantage anymore. I did find one thing though that WP handles much better. I received an email with an .rtf file attached. It's a pain to deal with on Android. Basically I had to save it, browse to its location, and open it with Quickoffice or something like that. It was readable, but unformatted. The same file on WP opened right up in Office, formatted perfectly, by simply tapping the file in the email.

 

[mccririck]

Can you edit Excel spreadsheets? I tried but it said I couldnt.