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Apple, VMware Working On Microsoft Office Alternative

Natural IT industry allies VMware and Apple are teaming up to give organizations a way to avoid Microsoft Office licensing costs. Details are still murky, but sources told CRN the companies are working on an iPad app that mixes VMware View virtual desktop software with cloud-hosted versions of Pages, Keynote and Numbers -- known as the iWork suite -- running on Apple infrastructure.

VMware's Horizon Application Manager, part of the Horizon Suite VMware unveiled at VMworld, is also believed to be in the mix. "Apple wants Pages to be seen as a replacement for Microsoft Word, Numbers as a replacement for Excel and Keynote as a replacement for PowerPoint," one source familiar with the project told CRN.