Can an iPhone Run Windows Excel and Word?

Compatibility

• According to the official Microsoft website, Office Applications such as Word and Excel require the Microsoft Windows or the Apple Macintosh OS X operating system. In contrast, the Apple iPhone uses a proprietary operating system called iOS. The incompatibility between Microsoft Office applications and the iPhone transcends the operating system, though, as processor requirements also prevent the mobile device from running Word and Excel. Microsoft Office software relies on Intel processors to carry out its instruction sets, and other processors may be unable to execute the software's code. According to a 2009 article in the electronics magazine PC Mag, the Apple iPhone features a Samsung ARM processor.
  
  

Emulators

• Though the iPhone cannot run Microsoft Word or Excel as native applications on its operating system and processor, iPhone owners can use emulator software to make the software work. Emulator applications work by using proprietary software routines to recreate the system requirements necessary to run certain software; technophiles know this process as porting. Some software companies, according to the technology website PC World, have produced emulators that port Microsoft Office software to work on the iPhone. Depending on the emulator package, these programs may require users to manually load software or even connect to a separate machine with an Intel processor and supported operating system.
  
  

Alternatives

• iPhone users who find emulators too complex or inconvenient have a number of alternatives for reading and even creating Word and Excel documents. In a 2010 article, the technology website ZD Net described several iOS-compatible applications that can read and write files in Microsoft Office format. Though Microsoft did not produce these applications, the software can open documents that other users created in Word and Excel. The applications offer many of the same functions found in Word and Excel, and they allow users to save files in a format compatible with Microsoft Office programs.
  
  

Considerations

• Though iPhone users can find a number of emulators and compatible applications, many of these software packages require a fee to purchase and download. In addition, some compatible programs may not include all of the features available in the latest versions of Word or Excel. Emulator applications may also require users to install Microsoft Office applications on a desktop computer, so these programs may not work properly when the user cannot connect to that machine over a local network. Finally, the small screen on the Apple iPhone may make using some Word and Excel functions awkward for some users.