Microsoft Office may go 'metro'

After presenting touch-based features of its upcoming flagship operating system Windows 8, Microsoft is dropping hints its Office productivity suite may take the same route. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hinted the company will craft a Metro-style version of Office for tablet computers, Computerworld reported. “You ought to expect that we are rethinking and working hard on what it would mean to do Office Metro style," Ballmer said when asked by a Wall Street analyst whether Microsoft is working on a version of Office for Windows 8’s Metro touch-based interface. Earlier, Microsoft gave the public glimpses of its touch-based Windows 8. Metro is the name for Microsoft’s tile- and touch-based interface borrowed from Windows Phone 7. This may mean more changes for Office, whose users are still getting used to the ribbons that replaced the traditional menus. On the other hand, analyst Rob Helm said Microsoft will need something in Metro that will let people work on documents on tablets. Helm works with “Directions on Microsoft," which scrutinizes the Redmond-based software giant. Helm particularly pointed out Microsoft needs “something on ARM," referring to the ARM system-on-a-chip that can run tablet computers but may not run legacy Windows applications. A Metro-style Office may be less than the desktop suite long familiar to users, but more than the current online Office Web Apps, Helm said. ‘With x86 dead in the water on ARM, Microsoft needs Office apps that allow for viewing and some light editing (on ARM). Office Web Apps are perfectly positioned for that, but they don’t support offline," Helm said. Helm said he believes Microsoft may create a Metro edition of Office based on the work already done on Office Web Apps, and use Windows 8 APIs (application programming interfaces) for offline work. On the other hand, he speculated the desktop Office will continue for Intel-based systems. Computerworld said it is possible Microsoft may ship a new version of Office in 2012 alongside Windows 8. — TJD, GMA News