Microsoft says that Office is coming to the iPad “sooner than most think”

Microsoft has been rumored for a number of years to be bringing its Office productivity suite to the iPad, and according to a new report from ZDNet, it is coming “sooner than most think.” Sources have indicated to ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley that Office for iPad may even arrive before the “touch first” Windows version that had been reported to be leading the way.

It must be a slow news day. I see a number of folks trying to parse recent statements by Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Marketing Tami Reller — who described  Microsoft’s approach to balancing its Windows and cross-platform plans as “thoughtful” — as meaning Microsoft plans to drag its feet on Office for iPad. Office for iPad — which I’ve recently heard is codenamed “Miramar” — isn’t dead. In fact, it’s likely to make it to market ahead of Microsoft’s touch-first version of Office (codenamed “Gemini”) according to a couple of my sources.