Inking – Apple is offering an additional $99 add-on for the iPad Pro, called the Pencil. Office supports this using Slide Over (open a second app without leaving the first), using two Office apps simultaneously, opening email attachments in a second window, and allowing a second app to run snapped to the screen, invisible during a PowerPoint presentation. Not a true multitasking environment, but the iPad Pro will give users the ability to run apps side-by-side (split screen). Multitasking on the iPad – the iPad Pro will offer multitasking. When the iPad Pro and iOS9 are available, Microsoft is already with enhanced features to take advantage of the new UI and feature additions. I've said it before, but Office is Microsoft's Trojan horse, allowing the company to sneak behind battlements and surprise the competition from within.

And, whether or not this is evidence of a new Microsoft or a new Apple, it does signify a significant change that has been brewing since Satya Nadella took over leadership of Microsoft. Some were surprised, however, to see a Microsoft representative take the stage to deliver demos of Office.

It's interesting that while Microsoft is moving to a single OS across all its devices, Apple is moving in the exact opposite direction. Except, of course, the iPad Pro doesn't support USB, multiple-monitors, a mouse, or a docking station, and it runs an operating system designed for a mobile device. It shocked many to see and hear that Apple decide to backtrack on a keyboard and a stylus (err, Pencil) for its larger, multitasking-capable iPad, the iPad Pro – essentially turning Apple's new tablet into a Surface look-alike. The event was littered with announcements delivered by a monotony of speakers. Apple's event on Wednesday was standard fare.

Open office ipad pro