After years of anticipation, Microsoft Office for iPad arrives — and it’s only the start of a brand new push toward apps across all mobile devices, says new CEO Satya Nadella.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on Thursday announced Microsoft Office for iPad. However the product, which some argue is 2 years overdue, was only portion of Nadella’s appearance, his first since succeeding Steve Ballmer last month. Microsoft also debuted a brand new Enterprise Mobility Suite to assist IT professionals manage the barrage of devices and services employees now use for work. Nadella also promised that Microsoft would embrace cross-platform opportunities while continuing to sell its own devices.

Microsoft Office for iPad includes native versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. They’re available at no cost immediately through Apple’s app store, though to do greater than review documents, users will need an Office 365 subscription.

The recently-announced Office 365 Personal, a low-cost option that entitles users to the cloud-based software suite on one tablet and one PC, were widely perceived as a harbinger of Thursday’s iPad releases. But a Microsoft representative told InformationWeek that Office 365 Personal won’t launch until later this spring.

[Did Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s first appearance live as much as expectations? Read Nadella’s Big Moment: 5 Things to observe.]

In an indication of Microsoft Word for iPad, Office GM Julia White revealed more functionality than anticipated, including a ribbon interface that resembles the single within the desktop version, but with larger input areas to deal with swiping fingers as opposed to clicking mice.

“It has your complete satisfying features you’d expect,” said White, adding that Microsoft worked to balance the iPad’s touch interface with cues that will be familiar to all Office users.

White also demonstrated iPad versions of Excel and PowerPoint. Excel features a special numeric onscreen keyboard and plenty of the desktop version’s quantitative functionality, and PowerPoint incorporates a type of touch-oriented presentation features. When an iPad is associated with a projector, for instance, PowerPoint will display a “laser pointer” wherever the user presses the touchscreen. an analogous function allows touch-based annotations, enabling the user to underline, circle, and otherwise emphasize onscreen elements during a presentation.

White also showed how Office 365 users can synch their files in a single Drive, permitting them to enjoy document fidelity across devices and operating systems. Office 365 also enables real-time co-authoring at the new iPad apps.

Although Nadella failed to specifically discuss Office for Android tablets, he promised Microsoft will deliver Office to all major platforms. Each might be uniquely designed for the host OS but additionally interoperable with other Office versions, he said.

Analysts predict iPad users could generate billions of bucks in more Office revenue for Microsoft. Nadella took his time attending to the product reveal, though, instead specializing in the company’s changing strategies.

“Everything we do going forward is grounded in a worldview of ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence,” he said, adding that years to come “won’t be defined by form factors we all know and love today, but a lot of form factors that may become.”

Nadella then transitioned to the “mobile-first, cloud-first” tactics he referenced last month on his first day as CEO. Mobility and the cloud both are essential to upgrading user experiences; therefore, they ought to be viewed as a single, intertwined experience, he said.

To build that have, Microsoft needs the support of not just users but in addition developers and IT managers. Nadella spoke at length about all three groups. He noted that Azure supports apps across numerous platforms and allows developers to construct titles that come with enterprise-friendly features corresponding to Active Directory integration and single sign-on capabilities.

Nadella said it may enjoy the new Enterprise Mobility Suite, which mixes Intune, Microsoft’s cloud-based mobile device management product, with Azure Active Directory and rights management tools. Companies are inclined to treat device management as one area, rights management as another area, etc, Nadella said. With the Enterprise Mobility Suite, he promised businesses a big leap forward in simplifying the mess, while device types proliferate.

The suite also includes machine learning-based safety features, said Andrew Conway, senior director of product marketing at Microsoft, in an interview following Nadella’s presentation. Enterprise Mobility Suite will recognize that something is suspicious if, say, a single user seems to be attempting to go surfing from two different geographies on the same moment.

In sum, Microsoft desires to offer “a cloud for everybody and each device,” Nadella stated. He said Microsoft’s Office agenda is “straightforward: Be sure users have access to high fidelity experiences on every device they wish to take advantage of.”

Some industry watchers have speculated that the discharge of Office for iPad will eat into sales of Windows tablets. Previously, Windows tablets were the simplest tablets to natively support Office. Nadella didn’t address the subject explicitly, but he closed his appearance by declaring that Microsoft’s cross-platform strategies are usually not “a tradeoff.”

“It’s concerning the realities of our customers,” he said, repeating his process of delivering high-quality experiences across device types, operating systems, and usage scenarios.

“And what about Windows?” he asked. Noting that Thursday’s event was not meant to hide Microsoft’s entire strategy, he said to expect additional information about Windows and devices next week at Build, the company’s conference for developers. “Now we have an immense agenda. We will be able to innovate,” he promised.

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Michael Endler joined InformationWeek as an associate editor in 2012. He previously worked in talent representation within the entertainment industry, as a contract copywriter and photojournalist, and as a teacher. Michael earned a BA in English from Stanford University in 2005 … View Full Bio

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