It's been a LONG time, but it's finally here. After four years since the debut of the iPad, Microsoft is finally releasing the Office suite for the Apple tablet. The suite is set to include full-featured tablet apps of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The initial download of the Office iPad suite is free, creating and editing documents is not. Consumers will have to sign up for an Office subscription plan termed, Office 365 that will begin charging iPad customers up to $120 a year, $80 for students, and $69.99 on the personal tier.

Microsoft's product manager, Julia White, describes the Office for iPad's visual layout as similar to what a user would see on a PC. The irony.

Whether you are in the classroom or at the workplace, you will be able to collaborate and track changes in real time without worrying about deleted files on the Office tablet version. And no need to worry about your file getting deleted, the Office for iPad's got you covered with its unique cloud storage using Microsoft's OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint.  

Though the Office for iPad undoubtedly features some stunning visuals and features, many are opposed to paying such pricey numbers for the sake of saying they have Office for iPad.

With tablets like the Microsoft Surface and free Apple apps like OneNote that serve as an imitation Microsoft Word for iPad users, Office for iPad seems a bit unnecessary.

The Office for iPad is most likely perfect for the worker on the go and in constant need of creating and accessing documents. A blogger perhaps?  However, for the average consumer whose iPad only features the latest Candy Crush or the hottest Netflix show, this product may not be for you.

Office for iPad has been released today. Will you be purchasing Microsoft's Office for iPad?