The Microsoft Office is one of the greatest and most used mobile productivity tool. Little wonder why the application perched on the top of Apple's App Store for weeks after its release.

The Microsoft Office suite is equipped with three apps to enhance mobile productivity: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and the Powerpoint app.

Getting started on the application may prove a little tricky hence the need for you to follow through with this post.

Step 1: Make Enough Space

To get the Microsoft Office running on iPad, you need to ensure that you have enough storage space to house the application which may take up as much as one gigabyte of your storage memory. You'll need about half-a-GB of free space. But we recommend that you keep at least a GB to spare, even after the installation.

Step 2: Download and Install

Microsoft Office installs like any other app on the App Store. So there shouldn't be much of roadblock for you. Just head over to the App Store and search for "Microsoft Office". Make sure you're downloading the official one from Microsoft.

Note: The free version allows you only to view documents. To edit and create documents, you'll have to buy the paid version.

Step 3: How to View Documents

Viewing documents in the Word for iPad application is quite easy as it is enabled for both the free and paid user. What may pose a significant puzzle may be how to get your documents into the Word for iPad. This may be done through two major ways —

a) one which involves opening your email attachments in the Word for iPad which automatically downloads and saves the attachment on your iPad; or

b) the use of the Microsoft's OneDrive service which offers cloud storage services.

Once your file has been successfully downloaded into the Word for iPad, you can view it for free.

Step 4: How to Use the Excel and Powerpoint Apps

Both the apps work similar to Word. However, they serve different purposes.

Excel is designed specially to handle spreadsheet management while Powerpoint supports presentation functions on your iPad. The Excel and Powerpoint apps are, however, best enjoyed when they are full paid versions; otherwise, they offer the view-only option to users.

Step 5: Using Special Features of Excel on IPad

The paid version of Excel for iPad offers a variety of features including a special numeric keypad which includes formula buttons. This feature is specially designed for the iPad and is unavailable on other Apple devices due to their smaller screen size.

The numeric pad feature Excel for iPad allows for easy creation of spreadsheets and also for easy and fast calculations using the formula button. Excel is also kitted with several features which make it simpler to use thus superior to the applications of this category. One of the features which give the Excel on iPad an added advantage compared to the desktop layout is the ease of changing currency formats.

Step 6: Using Special Features of Powerpoint on IPad

The Powerpoint application can be used to power a presentation even with the free mode, albeit with limited features.

The "present" icon is located on the upper-right portion of the screen while the use of AirPlay is activated by swiping from the bottom of the screen.

The paid version of the Powerpoint app allows users to edit and is equipped with a laser pointer effect which can be activated when the screen is pressed and held for longer than usual.