For those wondering about Microsoft exec Stephen Elop’s suggestions that Office is coming to the iPhone, let me be unequivocal. It is.
How do I know? Microsoft has already said so. The software maker is planning over the coming months to introduce Web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Those programs will run not only in Internet Explorer, but also in
Safari and
Firefox. And, lest there be any ambiguity, Microsoft has already confirmed that this means Office for
iPhone and Office for Linux.
For those who want to hear about Office for the iPhone straight from Microsoft’s mouth, here’s a video interview I did earlier this year with Office development chief Antoine Leblond.
Don’t get me wrong. Those are both big deals–particularly Office for Linux (think Netbooks and other Web appliances). It’s just that they weren’t new revelations, as some thought, on Wednesday.