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Microsoft Office for iOS is coming early next year, and a new leak from Microsoft confirms that we’re creeping closer than ever to a release.

The French site Mac4ever spotted references to a few key Office for iOS applications on an official Microsoft support site. That site lists the applications Office Mobile for iPhone, Excel for iPad, and PowerPoint for iPad.

The appearance of these references doesn’t advance the story too much, but it indicates that we’re likely closer than ever to seeing Microsoft Office for iOS finally appearing early in 2013.

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Microsoft’s rumored plan for Office on iOS and Android is shrewd but smart. Office on these devices should let users view documents in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for free. But if you want to edit the documents, you’ll need a subscription to Office 365, which will cost you or your organization at least $4 a month per user. Windows Phone users can edit documents for free.

See the photo below for the references made on Microsoft’s support site:

ms-office-ios-references

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