It did take a while for Microsoft to come through with Office for iPad, but with the latest update to the Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps, they’re now much more competent than ever before. After the fallout with Windows 8, the software maker has built up a favorable reputation for actually listening to the concerns of consumers, and having taken on board the numerous critiques of the Office apps for iPad, has delivered quite a significant bump to each, pushing the version numbers up to 1.1 in the process.
Starting with Microsoft Word for iPad, improvements include the ability to send Word documents as PDF files. Given the ubiquitous nature of PDF files, particularly in this modern age awash with mobile devices, this is a massive addition, and if you’re a frequent user of Word for iPad, you’ll surely be pleased to see this feature atop the change log.
Moreover, Word users can also take advantage of third-party fonts via the Fonts menu, and with Picture Tools offering the ability to crop and focus on a specific part of an image, the famed word processing app is really starting to take shape on iPad.
Similarly, the Excel app also lets you send Excel files as PDFs, and with a neat Flick to Select feature allowing you to quickly highlight a particular cell’s row or column, it is now much better adapted to the touch-based environment. There’s also third-party font and keyboard support along with a few other, smaller tweaks, and if you’re an Excel for iPad user, be sure to grab this update below.
Finally, the PowerPoint app has also been in receipt of the third-party fonts, Picture Tools and the ability to export as PDF, while also adding Presenter Tools, the ability to play various media in the background whilst presenting, and the capacity to add videos right from your camera roll.
All in all, this is a very healthy update across the board, and for your convenience, direct download links are provided below.
(Download: Microsoft Office Word / Excel / PowerPoint for iPad on the iTunes App Store)
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