If the rumors are correct iPad users may soon have their very own, full function version of Microsoft Office to use and abuse.

iPad publication The Daily has learned from various sources that the tech giant is actively working to create a software suit for the Apple iOS, allowing their nearly 80 percent market base to use the product on the go without the need for a notebook/netbook or other bulky product.

If the Apple tablet rumor is correct it’s expected that Microsoft will charge around $10 for the product to keep it competitive against Apple’s own Pages, Numbers and Keynote products.

Along with that product Microsoft is expected to release a new version of Office in 2012 for OS X Lion, their current Office 2011 package only works up to OS X Snow Leopard.

For Office users the company’s 2012 version is also expected to go into beta testing in January or February 2012 and with it a more simplified interface and Windows 8 support is expected.

The move towards Apple based products wouldn’t be a first for Microsoft in the mobile space, they already offer a Bing application, MSN Onit and MSN OnPoint but it’s safe to safe Office for iPad would likely be the company’s biggest mobile product offering to date for Apple based devices.

According to The Daily with Office products expected to earn more than $15 billion in 2011 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Microsoft is looking to expand the software which is second only to their Microsoft Windows OS platform.

Full Mac and Windows 8 versions of Microsoft Office 2012 are expected to launch towards the end of 2012 with an iPad version arriving sooner rather than later.

Microsoft Office For iPad Currently In The Works is a post from: The Inquisitr

It’s been a long time coming but after losing a Texas lawsuit in 2009 and then appealing that case Microsoft was found guilty on Thursday of violating a portfolio of patents held by i4i Limited Partnership.

The U.S Supreme Court of Appeals found that Microsoft violated various XML-related patents found within older version of Microsoft Word. i4i claimed for years that Microsoft was in breach of patent laws.

Microsoft had offered at one point to license the patents from i4i, however they were never able to secure rights to the technology. Microsoft then claimed that the patents were invalid.

Since the technology is no longer used on Microsoft Office products users should not be affected by the deal, however Microsoft will have to pony up $290 million, not a small chunk of change even for one of the world’s largest corporations.

Microsoft Loses i4i Patent Lawsuit, Supreme Court Awards $290 Million is a post from: The Inquisitr

The video below has been making the rounds (we picked it up off Consumerist), depicting a bunch of people cruelly lured into picking up an unattended copy of Microsoft Office only to be scared frickless when the unassuming box starts emitting a shrill, alarm-like noise.

No one can seem to discern if the video is a lame attempt at viral marketing by Microsoft or just a prank. Some say the reactions look staged, and a few people have suggested that it is some kind of anti-piracy message. (Which is kind of funny because the people who are punished by the box are just random passersby who find the object places like directly in the middle of the fricking sidewalk.) Of course, if it is viral marketing, it’s pretty counterintuitive since it kind of implies if you even touch the software, it will cause you great distress and possibly giantly poofy hair. (Coincidentally, the sum of my experience with Microsoft Office products.)

Either way, if you like watching people getting scared, falling down and being inconvenienced, you might enjoy the clip below. Like the guy who finds it perched mid-way up the stairs and almost falls down them. It’s funny, because he almost dies!

Microsoft alarm video: viral marketing? Prank? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Microsoft lost their case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit which would have stopped the ban of their Microsoft Word and Office products. The patent infringement which was brought about by XML specialists i4i in May 2009 specifically targets how those programs handle a specific XML algorithm.

According to Engadget i4i holds the patent that Microsoft was using to handle .xml, .docx and .docm files, specifically how they handle the algorithms for those file types. While the court originally ruled in favor of i4i Microsoft had appealed the ruling and the barring of sales was stopped. It’s still unclear if Microsoft will once again appeal the decision or ask that it be moved to the U.S. Supreme Court or even settle with i4i.

For Office users who may be curious, i4i isn’t a “patent troll” but rather a company of 30 developers who actually revamped the entire USPTO database for XML file compatibility for MS Word in 2000. i4i also doesn’t hold the full XML patent, just some of the algorithm used to read and write custom XML files.

In response to the decision Microsoft released a statement in which they said Office 2007 and Word 2007 versions that don’t use the “little-used” XML feature will be available for sale by January 11th, while stating that Office 2010 beta “does not contain the technology covered by the injunction.”

Here’s my question to Microsoft. Why even both to include it if it’s a “little used” function? This whole issue could have been avoided by realizing that fact during the build process.

Word and Office Banned For Sale Starting January 11th After Microsoft Loses Appeal is a post from: The Inquisitr

Mark this up in the column of “damn that has got to hurt” but Microsoft lost in a federal appeals court today when a $209 million judgement against the software giant was upheld and an injunction against the sale of their cash cow software package Word was issued.

The injunction is set to go into effect on January 11, 2010 and would stop the sale of all current versions of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Office.

Microsoft had appealed a Texas jury verdict in favor of i4i Inc., a Toronto company. The jury found recent versions of Microsoft Word infringed on a software patent.

Microsoft has said that it and the public will both suffer if Word goes off the market while the company devises a workaround. The court said the decision does not affect copies of the programs sold before the injunction goes into effect, so Microsoft can still provide technical support to the old versions even if they infringe on the patent.

Source: Yahoo News

I have a sneaking feeling that there are some Microsoft lawyers who won’t be seeing any bonuses or time with their families over the holidays.

BREAKING – Microsoft slapped hard by court: Can’t sell Word is a post from: The Inquisitr

Online office platform provider Zoho has released Zoho Writer 2.0, with a makeover that makes it more Microsoft Word like.

The new interface includes was Zoho calls the “MenuTab.” The MenuTab interface categorizes features as tabs based on functionality, include Format, Insert, Review and more. The tabs are used as Menus, quite purposely in a way reminiscent of the Ribbon bar in Microsoft Word 2007.

The sidebar has also had a makeover, with the ability to multi-select documents and perform actions.

The aim of the game in online office packages has always been appealing to existing software users to switch across, and delivering interfaces that are familiar is key to that. A decent upgrade for what was already a smart service.

More details on the Zoho blog here.

Zoho Writer refresh delivers a more Microsoft Word like experience is a post from: The Inquisitr