Totally agree. MS doesn't really have any choice but to offer office for free in the age of App Stores, and more importantly free alternatives are everywhere.

Totally agree. MS doesn't really have any choice but to offer office for free in the age of App Stores, and more importantly free alternatives are everywhere. Apple pages/numbers aren't going anywhere outside their garden, but Google docs are real deal. It's painful for MS to take this move, but it is really impressive to see them coming out of the comfort zone. Clearly the strategy of MS is to expand their services across all platforms, and by eliminating differences between platforms, then they can rule again. Interesting to see how this plays out in the next few years.