Satya Nadella's move to bring Office to the iPad is significant as much for its symbolism as for the detail.
He has calculated that bringing Microsoft's flagship productivity software to a rival operating system is a better long-term bet than holding it hostage to Windows-based devices.
It is a bold statement of leadership, signalling a willingness to carve out a fresh direction for Microsoft.
It puts Office at the heart of this new strategy, one in which mobile and cloud software and services are key, and an openness to other platforms is embraced.
One risk in this cross-platform strategy is that iPad developers have filled an Office-shaped hole with apps which - for many users - are perfectly respectable alternatives.
There will definitely be a core of Office users excited by the prospect of a familiar app with streamlined integration into the desktop version through the cloud. The question is how large this paying audience will be.
Furthermore, if the move to iPad proves too well-executed, it may be at the expense of sales of its own Surface tablet and other Windows-based mobile hardware - one of the reasons the Microsoft old guard resisted for so long.
The new CEO is making it clear that Microsoft is moving in a post-Windows environment - what he calls "a mobile first, cloud first" world - and the software giant needs to adapt accordingly.
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