News - Touch editing in Office Web Apps on Windows 8 and iOS

[HEXUS]

Microsoft Office Blog details new touch interface enhancements.

Read more.

[OilSheikh]

Excel should be fun with touch-typing! ...........NOT!

[kingpotnoodle]

Excel should be fun with touch-typing! ...........NOT!

Is anything fun with touch keyboards? For me it is the biggest deal breaker on attempting to use tablets for anything productive, I really don't understand all the masochists who seem to think un-extended iPads and keyboard-less Android tablets are anything other than content consumption devices. I find it a chore even sending a Facebook message, SMS has become something I can't be arsed with with since phones went all touchy and I find online shopping vastly easier on a laptop or greater. Without a proper keyboard then tablets = movies, reading, simple puzzle games. End of list.

Even with a keyboard attached to a tablet I'd still rather have my laptop. It has a trackpad or USB mouse, much better - so much more precise.

[Noli]

Is anything fun with touch keyboards? For me it is the biggest deal breaker on attempting to use tablets for anything productive, I really don't understand all the masochists who seem to think un-extended iPads and keyboard-less Android tablets are anything other than content consumption devices. I find it a chore even sending a Facebook message, SMS has become something I can't be arsed with with since phones went all touchy and I find online shopping vastly easier on a laptop or greater. Without a proper keyboard then tablets = movies, reading, simple puzzle games. End of list.

Even with a keyboard attached to a tablet I'd still rather have my laptop. It has a trackpad or USB mouse, much better - so much more precise.

Couldn't. Agree. More. Texting on my Nexus S with SwiftKey is still less intuitive than my ancient Sony dumb phone. Even simple web browsing is often painful on my tablet. I have a friend who claims to get a lot of productive work done on his ipad. I want whatever the fvck he's smoking...

[cameronlite]

You guys will have to just buy a surface then seeing as it's cover is also a keyboard and trackpad!

[cheesemp]

You guys will have to just buy a surface then seeing as it's cover is also a keyboard and trackpad!

Or just get an ASUS transformer which has had a trackpad since release? Android supports mouse/trackpads really well.

[crossy]

For me it is the biggest deal breaker on attempting to use tablets for anything productive, I really don't understand all the masochists who seem to think un-extended iPads and keyboard-less Android tablets are anything other than content consumption devices.

Even with a keyboard attached to a tablet I'd still rather have my laptop. It has a trackpad or USB mouse, much better - so much more precise.

My old Asus Transformer has a trackpad and "proper" keyboard too - and it's a no-brainer "plug in and go" operation. (And I can use shift select, and ^C/^V key combos). But I agree with you about the utility of tablets - it'd take a lot of argument to convince me that Asus didn't get the Transformer right and that iPad etc are only "half way there".

I'm kind of ambivalent about the Microsoft Surface - I think MUI/Metro will work well on a large screen - but some of the product shots seem to show that the keyboard is one of those nasty rubber membrane ones (Sinclair Spectrum?), and the keyboard has the same problems as similar ones for iPad/'droid - no expansion ports and it's a further drain on the main battery.

Speaking of Android - anyone know if this web apps will work with something on Android? I would have thought so given that it's on Windows8 and iOS apparently.

[kingpotnoodle]

Or just get an ASUS transformer which has had a trackpad since release? Android supports mouse/trackpads really well.

Yes I could but for the cost of the Transformer Keyboard combo I could just about buy a proper Windows machine, I know which one I'd rather have. I spent ~£500 on my very unsexy Dell M101z about 2 years ago, it's still going strong, I'm willing to live with the shorter battery and extra weight for something so much more useful to me :-)

I am quite keen on Surface Pro, with the thicker 'proper' keyboard option... I will definitely go play with one when they arrive.