Apple opens up access to iWork for Windows users

Apple has opened up a pre-release web-based version of its iWork software to Windows users, apparently taking aim at Microsoft's own home-brand Office software suite, Zd.net reports.

Office's web-based apps are only available with an Office 365 subscription, which costs users a modest fee each month. (Office Online, however, is free.) Apple's web-based service is currently for free, though there's no guarantee it will stay that way.

Apple launched iCloud in mid-2013, allowing its iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to tie their data together through the company's own cloud solution. Since then it's expanded to include documents, music, and other content.

Now that iWork has been ported to iCloud, anyone with an Apple ID username and password can login to iCloud to use web-based versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, which are also compatible with Microsoft's document formats.

iWork also works with iPhones and iPads, allowing users to make changes on their mobile device and have the changes automatically added to the cloud.

The game of productivity "cat and mouse" continues. Microsoft recently updated Office for iPhone and iPad, adding more features and functionality available for free.