Despite not wanting to steal the thunder from the release of its new upcoming Office and upcoming release of Windows 8 for desktops and tablets, Microsoft is not going to leave money on the table. Part of this strategy includes the release of a new version of Office for Mac OS X and Office for iOS/iPad.

A job posting on the company’s web site indicates that Microsoft is looking for OS X developers to be part of its PowerPoint and Outlook test teams. With a little more reading you will find that these future employees will be working on new features that will be part of Microsoft’s move onto Mac and iOS.

Whether Microsoft likes it or not, they are in the software business, and Apple continues to sell a lot more Mac OS X computers and iPads that run iOS. With this market continuing to grow at the rate that it is, Microsoft understands that it would be foolish not to release a new version of Office for Mac OS X and its first release for iOS.

Sources tell us that they still believe Microsoft will release their first version of Office for iOS and the iPad as soon as this November, and perhaps even sooner. The lack of confirmation has led to significant speculation as to the make up this iOS Office release; but we suspect that it will be light versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Look for integration with OneNote and for it to continue to remain free of charge.