New free iPad app lets you use Windows 7 on Apple's tablet - and you don't need a PC

New free iPad app lets you use Windows 7 on Apple's tablet - and you don't need a PC - App 'streams' a Windows desktop to your iPad - Legal, free and out this week - Lets you use Word and Excel and save documents 'in the cloud'

OnLive's new 'Desktop' application turns Apple's iPad into a PC - 'streaming' a Windows desktop onto iPad's screen, with a full suite of office applications such as Word and Excel.

It's free and launches on Thursday 12 January.

Other applications have 'brought Windows to iPad' before - but only by duplicating a Windows machine's desktop on screen. Onlive's is the first where you don't need to buy a PC.

Other applications have 'brought Windows to iPad' before - but only by duplicating a Windows machine's desktop on screen. Onlive's is the first where you don't need to buy a PC

The app is legal, and 'streams' an image of a remote Windows desktop to your iPad, so you never 'own' Windows - or pay for it.

There is a paid version, which offers more storage and more advanced Windows functions such as PC games. After an initial testing phase, the app will switch over to being paid-for.

The app lets users control Windows 7 with gestures - and even play high-end PC games.

The action - and all files you create in applications such as Word - are stored remotely on Onlive's servers, and accessible every time you open the app. Everything is hosted 'in the cloud'.

Apple's iPad is at the pricier end of the tablet market - but as a PC, the 9.7-inch slate is very modestly priced.

Steve Perlman, OnLive's CEO, says, 'iPad users will now be able to securely view and edit cloud-hosted documents with full-featured Windows desktop applications like Microsoft Office, just as if they were using a local high-performance PC.'

'Multi-touch gestures respond instantly and smoothly, while HD videos, animations and PC video games—never before usable on a remote desktop—play seamlessly.'

The app offers multi-touch gesture control that responds instantly - but there's also a full on-screen Windows keyboard and handwriting recognition.

The free verison of the OnLive Desktop app comes with 2 GB of secure cloud storage and access to a cloud-based Windows 7 desktop pre-populated with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, plus several utilities and touch games.

A 'Pro' version will offer 50GB of Cloud storage, web browsing and more PC applications such as games. ( dailymail.co.uk )