Microsoft Corporation said its Office for iPad app has been downloaded over 12 million times so far by iPad users since its release on Apple's App Store about a week ago. The Office for iPad app is a suite consisting of four separate apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

All four are available as individual downloads so the 12 million total is likely to represent the entire number of downloads of all the applications collectively and not only for the suite.

The free subscription of Office for iPad allows its users to read and view documents and PDFs. For one to create and edit a file or document, a user needs to purchase the subscription.

Analysts noted, however, that these features can be unlocked without any payment whatsoever. They said all that's required is to exploit a loophole in which someone with a valid Office 365 account logs in to Word, Excel or any other Office app on iPad. Once that happens, the tablet is automatically authenticated for all Office apps and any future users, regardless of whether or not those users have paid for 365.

Microsoft seemed none too concerned about the loophole, saying that ". . . similar to our commercial use rights, we do not strictly enforce the limit on tablet installations, but trust that our users respect and understand the device limits outlined in the EULA (end user rights agreement),"

The loophole allows a user to have multiple installations across a number of devices despite the EULA that restricts users from installing the application on a limited number of devices.