[macspoofing]

It makes no fuckin sense to break Microsoft apart. Microsoft is actually highly focused. There's synergy between every division, whether on the product side (e.g. hotmail/outlook accounts used in Windows, Office, Xbox, Internet services) or the backend/platform side (e.g Windows kernel powering PCs, Xbox, Tablets, Phones. Or the Azure cloud powering Office 365, XboxOne Cloud, and miscellaneous Windows SAAS, in addition to providing web-services AND also pushing and marketing the Windows and Xbox development platforms).

What a terrible article.

[revscat]

> There's synergy between every division

I disagree with this claim, and offer as proof the lack of Office on any of MS's mobile devices. Compare with Apple, who had versions of all of their iWork apps available on the iPad when that device launched. Further, Office has its own UX norms which frequently contradict the Windows norms.

I do not claim the article was high-quality, but I to take issue with the idea that there is intradivision synergy at MS. The opposite seems to be true, at least for now.

[mynameisvlad]

> lack of Office on any of MS's mobile devices

WP7 had Office. WP8 has Office. Hell, Office for phones started as Pocket Office in 1996 for Windows CE 1.0, and has been updated all the way until Windows Mobile 6.5.

>who had versions of all of their iWork apps available on the iPad when that device launched

Furthermore, the iPhone existed for 3 years before iWork was released for it. Since we're talking about mobile devices, it's only fair to use the original iDevice for comparison, since Office for Mobile is available for phones. Office for RT was released, and built-in to the OS, for free.

Office Web Apps for SkyDrive was released 3 years ago. iCloud's iWork implementation is still in Beta.

>Office has its own UX norms which frequently contradict the Windows norms.

It's generally followed Windows UI style. Windows 7 brought in Ribbon in some built-in apps, and Windows 8 extended that even further.

You can try as hard as you want to diss Office, but their product offerings have been top notch across devices.

[freehunter]

Um? Office is on all of Microsoft's mobile devices. My Lumia 920 sure has Office. My Samsung Focus before that had Office. My Nexus 4 has Office OneNote. Surface RT has Microsoft Office 2013 RT

[canistr]

I disagree with the comparison with Apple and iWorks because with Microsoft's Office products, the level of support they would have to include for Excel, PowerPoint, and Word docs is significantly greater than Apple. They aren't working from the ground up the way Apple does because their user base is far more complex and large. For Microsoft, support goes deep into supporting their business clients, tech support, and general consumers since Office is a core business for them.

[madoublet]

Windows Phone ships with Office. So does RT.