iWork

Apple has stepped up its efforts to hit its two biggest rivals — Microsoft and Google — where it hurts.
Apple has opened up a public beta that allows anyone, PC or Mac, to use the cloud version of its office productivity suite, iWork, free via a browser.

You'll need an Apple ID, and Apple is now allowing anyone to create one — no Apple device needed. Just point your browser to beta.icloud.com.

IWork includes the standard set of office apps: word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation software. The cloud version lets multiple people work on a document at the same time, as they can with Google Apps or with Microsoft's cloud apps OneDrive (the freebie version) or Office365 (the paid version).

Apple describes its cloud version of iWorks like this:

Just log in from your browser on your Mac or PC and launch the app you want to use. All the documents you create will be saved in iCloud, and any changes you make will automatically appear in the iWork apps on your iOS devices and your Mac. Your work will always be available at iCloud.com, so you can access your documents anywhere.

The ability to use iWork from a PC on the web is the latest step in Apple's push to make its Office apps a real alternative to MS Office or Google Apps.

IWork was launched in 2005 as a reaction to Microsoft Office for the Mac. Microsoft often treated the Mac version as a second-class citizen, with users having to wait months or longer for updates that were first released in the Windows version.

Apple sold iWork for $79. Later, Apple sold the individual apps on its Apple store for $20 apiece for the Mac versions and $10 each for the iOS version.

In 2013, after all-but-ignoring iWork for years, Apple suddenly updated it and announced it was giving it away free to anyone who bought a new Apple device or updated to a new operating system. Apple launched a cloud version then, too, but you could create an Apple ID login only on an Apple device, like a Mac, iPhone, or iPad.

Apple isn't giving away just the apps, either. The cloud apps let you open and edit Microsoft Office documents, too.

We recently reported on Google's plans to nab 80% of Microsoft Office customers away from Microsoft.

It looks as if Apple is following a similar game plan.