Join us for the Microsoft announcement liveblog, 10am PT/1pm ET Thursday
All the signs are pointing to an Office for iPad announcement coming tomorrow from Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella. While the software giant's product teams were long suspected of having a finished iPad version of the PC and Mac productivity suite ready to ship, the priority for Microsoft was to get a touch-enabled revamp of the PC version (codenamed "Gemini") to market first.
That's no longer the plan, according to ZDnet's Microsoft beat lead Mary Jo Foley. Along with many other MS mavens, Foley believes that Office for iPad -- which would presumably be tied to an Office 365 subscription -- will be announced tomorrow, with the Gemini version of touch-Office coming later on. The announcement may also touch on MS's management options for mixed-platform networks, covering a new MEMS product (Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite) that would provide tools for network administrators and IT leads to handle their increasingly diverse, BYOD-enabled environments.
If the thought of a Microsoft announcement in San Francisco on the first day of Macworld/iWorld suggests pretty clearly to you that MS wants to get the attention of Apple aficionados, you're not alone. That's why we'll be attending and liveblogging the announcement tomorrow, providing commentary and reactions during the event and afterward. Microsoft will also be webcasting the event.
Will March 27, 2014 be the day that future tech pundits point to as the transition from the PC to the post-PC era? Tune in to find out.
Yes, the photo is of ancient MS-DOS boxes; as it happens, Microsoft released the source code for early versions of DOS this week.
