OnLive Desktop brings Windows 7, Flash to iPads

(CBS) - Apple iPad users have an easy way to user Microsoft Office, Windows 7 cloud desktop and Adobe Flash player, thanks to the OnLive Desktop app.

The app lets iPad users launch Windows 7 cloud desktop, where the entire Microsoft Office suite can be accessed. Users also get 2 gigabytes of free cloud storage. For a $5 monthly fee, user will get accelerated browsing at the rate of an impressive 1 GB.

So what does this mean for iPad users?

Two major things stick out - access to Windows 7 and a Flash player. If those are two features that you've been pining for, the OnLive Desktop app is an excellent value.

The lack of Flash support has been a major point of contention for Apple. The company's co-founder, the late Steve Jobs wrote a scathing letter called "Thoughts on Flash" that listed six reasons iOS devices would never support Flash - most notable are battery life and Flash's reliance on a mouse.

OnLive Desktop is probably the best way to get Windows on an iPad. And the fact that Microsoft Office suite is available makes the iPad an even more powerful business tool.

There's also the 1 GB Internet speed. According to an estimate by The New York Times' David Pogue, that's 500 to 1,000 faster than our home Internet. OnLive can achieve this by converting large data files meant for desktops and optimize them for the iPad.

Using Internet Explorer on the app is also fast. That's because IE is running through OnLive's servers.

"Webpages load almost instantly," said MacWorld's Loyd Case, "because your iPad isn't doing all the processing required to render the page."