![]() Read more about mac os x in Computerworld's Mac OS X Topic Center.An Introduction to Handoff on Mac and iOS His email address is more by Gregg Keizer on. Follow Gregg on Twitter at on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed. Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and general technology breaking news for Computerworld. By historical trends, Microsoft is already late in delivering an upgrade to Office for Mac 2011, the most-current edition. Microsoft has said next to nothing about the next iteration of a Mac Office other than to promise to ship something before the end of the year. Microsoft would also have to revise Office for iPad and the iPhone version of Office Mobile, and if it decided to support Handoff between native and Web-based apps, modify the free online editions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. "I'd expect Office 365 to pick it up automatically, but I wouldn't expect it on the Mac side until the back-to-school timeframe," said Miller. Miller expected Handoff to debut in Office, if it does at all, when Microsoft launches the next edition for the Mac. "They're more open to being open," said Miller, citing the new regime's viewpoint as another factor that could tip the debate. The move would also let the company again demonstrate that it's in the game with all players, not just those inside its own ecosystem, a point CEO Satya Nadella has made numerous times - notably when he introduced Office for iPad - since his February promotion. ![]() By jumping on Handoff, Microsoft would shut up those critics. When Microsoft took nine months after Apple debuted a full-screen mode to add the feature to Office's applications, some customers criticized the firm for not putting its shoulder behind the OS X wheel. Microsoft would likely benefit in the public perception arena - or the subset composed of Mac, iPhone and iPad owners - said Miller. There were no other obvious barriers in the limited amount of documentation that Apple's published on the technology. iCloud is not a requirement - as Microsoft's own Office for iPad demonstrated - and Microsoft can continue to rely on OneDrive as Office's default online storage service. There should be no concern in Redmond about document storage, even though Apple makes it much easier for developers who use iCloud as their apps' document repositories. Naturally, Microsoft pushes its own identity system for accessing its services, ranging from Office 365 and OneDrive to and Skype. (That's how Handoff recognizes the devices owned by an individual.) ![]() To use Handoff, an Apple device owner must have an iCloud ID, and be signed into that account on all hardware meant for content forwarding. company perceives its rival's requirements. Microsoft's desire to support Handoff in Office will largely depend on how the Redmond, Wash. And neither OneDrive nor Office spawned an on-screen alert that pointed the user to the document-in-progress, as does Apple's Handoff. There are differences: When Computerworld opened a Word 2013 document on the iPad - the document was last edited on a Windows 8.1 notebook - it was positioned with the cursor at the top, not at the location of the last edit. Then you can open it on another device from OneDrive." "You can step away from one device and the document is saved in the background. "With OneDrive, Microsoft has 'document continuity," Miller said. If Microsoft were to add Handoff support to its iOS apps - Office Mobile on the iPhone, Office for iPad on Apple's tablet - and its desktop edition for OS X, a document begun on the iPad could be picked up on a MacBook Air at the point it was left when the two devices neared each other.īut Microsoft already has its own solution to the multi-device problem in Office, said Miller. But it will also open up Handoff to third-party developers via several APIs (application programming interfaces), giving them a chance to bake the feature into their own software. Apple will support Handoff on many of its own iOS apps and OS X applications bundled with iOS 8 and Yosemite, including the iWork troika of Pages, Numbers and Keynote.
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