iPad Muse

Microsoft's Mac Business Unit, which earlier today gave new details about the next Mac Office version, might be the most logical group inside the company to consider developing software for Apple's iPad. When we asked about its plans, they didn't dismiss the idea, but made it clear that it wouldn't be a top priority.

"Our main focus right now is Office 2011, but we are looking into the iPad though we have nothing firm to share at this time," a representative of the Microsoft group said via email in response to our inquiry.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, meanwhile, is being a little more explicit about his feelings toward Apple's latest creation.

“You know, I’m a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard - in other words a netbook - will be the mainstream on that,” Gates said in an interview with BNet.com blogger Brent Schlender. “So, it’s not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, ‘Oh my God, Microsoft didn’t aim high enough.’ It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.’ "

The quote is notable in part because Gates was a champion of Microsoft's Tablet PC initiative, so he's intimately familiar with concept of slate-style computing. In that way, his reference to netbooks as a better alternative is very interesting. It isn't clear if it's a lesson learned from experience, or a competitive reaction.

Or is it a case of history repeating itself? In the comments on the post, an astute BNet.com reader points to this September 2004 interview in which Gates told BusinessWeek, "There's nothing that the iPod does that I say, 'Oh, wow, I don't think we can do that.' "

Back on the subject of the Mac Business Unit's plans for the iPad, Microsoft's Mike Tedesco gave a similar "we're looking at it" comment to gadget site T3, which interpreted the remark -- rather liberally -- as the company revealing that it "may be ready to unleash a version of Office for Mac for the Apple iPad."

Wow, talk about taking a quote and running with it. Personally I'll believe it when I see it, especially considering how long Microsoft has been "looking" at iPhone app development, without releasing one yet.

Apple has said it will release a version of its iWork productivity applications for the iPad when it debuts.