Tim Cook welcomes Nadella’s new Office Software for iPad

Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT new chief executive, Satya Nadella, on Thursday unveiled Office for Apple Inc’s iPad at a news conference in San Francisco.

In his first public appearance since taking the helm 52 days ago, Nadella kicked off the presentation with an introduction to Microsoft’s approach of mobile, cloud-centric world of computing.

Dressed in a black polo shirt and dark jeans, Nadella threw in some geek humor and TS Eliot’s poem, “Little Gidding,” about remembering past lessons and explaining how he sees Microsoft with a fresh eye.

Paraphrasing the Eliot poem, Nadella said that one should never cease from exploration and at the end of you arrive where you started knowing the place for the very first time. He said that it has never been more true for him.

No software was demonstrated on any Windows machines which is in contrast to former Chief Executive Steve Ballmer’s focus on their own devices. The new 46-year-old CEO said that Microsoft caters to both individual users and organizations across all devices.

The demonstration of Office for the iPad showed the reworked features and menu options on the touchscreen device. Nadella made no references to Windows indicating a deeper strategic shift. Analysts of Wall Street have been enthused about the potential revenue for Office on 190 million iPads that were sold since 2010.

The new “touch-first” version of Office iPad app is limited to subscribers of Office 365, which is an online-friendly version that allows users “rent” for an annual subscription cost of $99.99 a year. The new app lets users to create or edit documents besides reading them.

Apple CEO Tim Cook posted on Twitter including Thursday afternoon welcoming Mr.Nadella to the iPad and the App Store.

Welcome to the #iPad and @AppStore! @satyanadella and Office for iPad

— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 27, 2014

 

To this Nadella replied thanking Cook that he is excited to bring office to iPad .

Thanks @tim_cook, excited to bring the magic of @Office to iPad customers #cloud4mobile

— Satya Nadella (@satyanadella) March 27, 2014