Jim Dalrymple:

Apple likes to highlight cool software for the device it’s introducing, so why not Office? It would be more beneficial for Microsoft than Apple, but still I think Apple would give them a place at the keynote.

No matter how beneficial Office for iPad would be to Microsoft, Apple would give it a spot in the keynote. Apple would make 30% on every copy of Office sold and they’d sell a lot more iPads if Office was available for it.

The only downside from Apple’s perspective is that Microsoft would get to show off a piece of tablet software during Apple’s event with Microsoft set to release a more tablet-savvy version of Windows later this year. But, I think the iPad has enough of a foothold in the market for Apple to feel a little less worried about giving Microsoft the “free” advertising.