OnLive is well-known for bringing games to the iPad, and now it’s going to bring Windows 7. The service is called OnLive Desktop, and you can download the free version on Thursday, January 12th at the App Store. All you need is an iPad or iPad 2 with at least a 1 Mbps Internet connection (1.5-2 Mbps for best results).

The holidays are over and chances are good you had to head back to work this week. CloudOn wants to help with their MS Office app that creates, views and edits Excel, Word and PowerPoint files. Now you can work anywhere. Joy. In case you’ve had enough work, you’ll enjoy the other great apps and games I found, all of which will only be free for a limited time.

There was a time when it was fashionable for Mac users to hate Microsoft products, but those days are now behind us. Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit (MBU) now “gets” what Mac users want, and, for the most part, they’re able to deliver it. A prime example of this is Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac, which just may be the best set of tools Microsoft has sent the Mac’s way in nearly two decades.

Microsoft’s MacBU today released pricing information and specific timing around this year’s release of Office for Mac 2011. Those looking to get their hands on the venerable office suite will be able to so in October, and Microsoft will offer three editions of the new suite in more than 100 countries around the world and in 13 different languages. Packing details include…

If you have a Mac and don’t already own a copy of Microsoft Office for Mac, this upcoming Friday through Monday is the time to buy yourself one. Microsoft has announced they will be offering Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Editions for just $99, $50 off the standard retail price. Microsoft’s current deals are also quite bargain-worthy, as their Office 2008 Home and Student Edition is currently $20 off, their Business Edition Upgrade is $40 off and their Business Edition is $50 off.

Or, “When Things Fall Apart.” And boy can things fall apart when you install the SP2/12.2.0 upgrade to Office for Mac 2008. To begin with, unless you absolutely have to upgrade, it is definitely a good idea to wait. There are some serious issues here, which Microsoft will hopefully address soon—showstopper issues that can create significant headaches for Office users. Everybody got their dancing shoes on? Good, let’s begin the tango with a look at some of what this service pack contains.

Turns out surreptitious Microsoft updates are no longer a PC-only problem. Microsoft’s Genuine Advantage program is designed to check that copies of Windows as well as Windows-based software (mainly Office) are properly licensed. The stated goal of this program is to “… giv[e] you full capabilities, access to all the latest updates, and confidence that you are getting the experience you expect.” (Source: MS Genuine Advantage Program Information). Until now, the nagging, pop-up reminders, and reduced functionality that accompany pirated Windows software have been exclusive to the PC realm. Unfortunately, with Office 2008, this appears to have changed.

Here is the scenario…

OpenOffice has released version 3 of its open-source alternative to the Microsoft Office suite of applications, which now includes a native version for Mac OS X.

The new OpenOffice 3 includes the following new features:

• ODF 1.2 Support
• Microsoft Office 2007 Import Filters
• Solver component which allows solving optimization problems
• Support for displaying custom error bars and regression equations
• Improved Crop Feature in Draw and Impress

The iPhone combines great user interface with almost infinite possibilities in application design. But, until now, there has been a relative dearth of useful office collaboration tools. Programs that are standard in every office suite—along the lines of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel—have had no real iPhone counterparts. Until today, that is.

Softalk has announced its aptly named “Spreadsheet” application for iPhone, available immediately from the App Store for a mere $7.99 (compared with $110 for a desktop version of Excel). Featuring a standard table layout with a formula bar on top, Spreadsheet allows you to format cells with everything from text and background colors to row/column size and in-cell text alignment. Cells can also be formatted to reflect the type of data they contain, with seven choices: general, number, currency, percentage, date, time or text. Spreadsheet also features in-app copy and paste functionality, allowing cells (or ranges of cells) to be copied and pasted within a worksheet. Sadly, this functionality does not extend to the entire iPhone interface.

After leaving it out of Office 2008 along with Visual Basic for Applications, Microsoft has returned Solver to Excel 2008.

Prior to this addition, Office users would have to use Office 2004 for Excel if they needed solver, defeating the purpose of having Office 2008 on the system. It is a standalone application, and you have to run it alongside Excel. There is not a way to run it from within Excel.

More after the break.