MS Office on Apple Mobile Devices

[sabino]

Version: 2004 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Intel Email Client: Exchange OK, below is a message I sent to Microsoft's MacBU for a new product suggestion/request.
What/How do others feel about the issue of using Office for Mac - especially Entourage/Outlook and the difficulty with getting data over & using it on an Apple mobile device.

I have nothing against Apple's iCal, Mail, Addressbook apps.
They just don't substitute for a robust, integrated suite.
And presently when syncing from Office to an Apple app, many important attributes (data links, Categories, etc) of Office data & events are dropped or lost.
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My thought is... there needs to be MS Office Mobile for Mac !!!
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Dear Microsoft MacBU -
I have a suggestion / request for a product that is badly needed and has no real market competition at present.

MICROSOFT OFFICE MOBILE for MAC

Those of us professional & business Mac users who use (and rely on) the Microsoft's Office suite on our desktops & laptops have no way to properly use our data on any of the Mac mobile devices.

Apple's applications iCal, Addressbook & Mail are really inadequate substitutes.
1) They are separate freestanding apps whose data are not integrated or linked as in Entourage/Outlook.

2) They do not have robust nor fully developed features to satisfy serious users.

3) Presently, I can sync Office for Mac to Office on a Windows Mobile device. Heck, with MS Office Mac 2004, I can still even sync to a Palm OS device!!
 But alas... there is no way to 'fully' sync Office for Mac to a Mac Mobile device. If it could, this would run on iPod Touch, iPhones and now the iPad !!!
The iPad could be a great platform for Office Mobile for Mac in both school and enterprise settings.
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There's a market need not presently being met by Apple, Microsoft nor anyone.
Just a thought _and_ a pipe dream.
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[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

My thought is... there needs to be MS Office Mobile for Mac !!!

MS doesn't really follow these groups. This is meant for peer-support only.
Use the Send Feedback command in any Office application to share your
thoughts with them,

          Corentin

 

[sabino]

> MS doesn't really follow these groups. This is meant for peer-support only.
> Use the Send Feedback command in any Office application to share your
> thoughts with them,
>
> Corentin
>

Dear Corentin -
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If you re-read my forum posting, you'll see that I already wrote directly to Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (MacBU) .
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My posting in the forum was to solicit opinions & generate discussion among Office USERS.
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I was genuinely curious what other Entourage/Outlook Users experiences & needs were moving back & forth between desktop and handheld platforms. And also what others thought about my suggestion to MacBU about developing a version of OFFICE Mobile for Mac _or_ at least OUTLOOK Mobile for Mac just as their are for Win-Mobile devices.
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This would be a *big* bump up in productivity over using iCal, Mail & Addressbook.
It would preserve all the much richer data in Entourage that is lost in the Apple apps.
And it would make syncing more reliable & starightforward.
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Anyway those are my thoughts. What do others think ?
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[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Dear Corentin -
.

Dear Sabino,

If you re-read my forum posting, you'll see that I already wrote
directly to Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (MacBU) .

I saw that but I just wanted to make sure you weren't under the
assumption that someone from MS might respond here

My posting in the forum was to solicit opinions & generate discussion
among Office USERS.

Well everybody would love to have a native iPhone app to properly deal
with Office files. I really can't see who might object.

My bet? MS is already developing Office online and they'll have an
iPhone-optimized version at some point.

I was genuinely curious what other Entourage/Outlook Users experiences
& needs were moving back & forth between desktop and handheld platforms.

Personally I rarely even want to edit an Office document on my iPhone
so there is no rush as far as *I* am concerned. Now I can understand
that you'd need that.

And also what others thought about my suggestion to MacBU about
developing a version of OFFICE Mobile for Mac _or_ at least OUTLOOK
Mobile for Mac just as their are for Win-Mobile devices.

A better e-mail client in general would be a huge plus and I have hopes
with the iPhone OS 4. Not sure I'd need Outlook for iPhone.
What would it provide that you can't (or won't be able to ) do in the
current client? I'm not talking about UI, but lower level functions. It
already syncs events and contacts from Exchange for instance.

This would be a *big* bump up in productivity over using iCal, Mail &
Addressbook.
It would preserve all the much richer data in Entourage that is lost in
the Apple apps.
And it would make syncing more reliable & starightforward.

Are you talking about Exchange in particular?


Corentin