I wonder how accessible this is on the iPad on with voiceover.
Mary

Smaller iPad Pro can use Microsoft Office for free, while larger iPad can't
Macworld  /  Mark Hachman


Here’s one point Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller didn’t make in calling the 
new 9.7-inch iPad the ultimate PC replacement: if you buy it, you won’t have to 
pay for an Office 365 subscription to use Microsoft’s iOS Office apps.

But if you buy the larger, 12.9-inch model, you will. Why? Because of the 
vagaries of Microsoft’s mobile Office strategy.

Almost a year ago, Microsoft attempted to distinguish what defined a mobile 
experience, and what devices would typically be used on the go. The idea, 
according to Microsoft, was that the company wanted to charge Office 365 
licensing fees for those users who were using Office at a desk, performing 
productive work. Microsoft views mobile apps as more appropriate for light 
editing, rather than document creation.

What Microsoft settled on to divide mobile and desktop users was screen size: 
specifically 10.1 inches. Anything smaller than that and users can pretty much 
do anything they want with the appropriate iOS, Windows, or Android app, 
including creating, editing, or sharing documents. But if you’re using the 
Office apps on a device whose primary screen is larger than 10.1 inches, 
Microsoft won’t let you create a new document, just edit and view an Office 
document created elsewhere.

That means that, if you define productivity as access to Microsoft’s excellent 
Office apps for iOS, the smaller iPad Pro is actually more productive than the 
larger version.

If you’re worried that Microsoft may erase this distinction, you probably 
shouldn’t be. One of the foundations of Microsoft’s Continuum plan is to allow 
its Lumia phones to plug into a Display Dock and essentially run the free 
mobile Office apps on a desktop monitor. Close the licensing loophole, and one 
of Continuum’s advantages disappears.

Why this matters: Windows users may have many reasons to believe that the iPad 
Pro pales in comparison to the Surface tablets, but Office compatibility isn’t 
one of them. It’s worth noting that even the smallest $499 Surface 3 clocks in 
a 10.7 inches on the diagonal, meaning that Microsoft charges every Surface 
user for an Office subscription if you want to create an Office document—$70 
per year for an Office 365 Personal subscription. Provided you buy the smaller 
$599 iPad Pro, that savings will pay for itself in about 18 months. 



Original Article: 
http://www.macworld.com/article/3047152/ios/smaller-ipad-pro-can-use-microsoft-office-for-free-while-larger-ipad-cant.html#tk.rss_all


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