Ever since Apple launched the iPad, people have been wondering: When are we going to be able to use Microsoft Office on the thing?

It's been a few years now, and Microsoft Office programs like Word, Excel and PowerPoint don't seem any closer to becoming a reality on the iPad or iPhone.

One analyst claims that Microsoft is leaving $2.5 billion in extra yearly revenue on the table because it doesn't release Office on the iPad. So clearly there's a pent-up demand for the product. And it's not like there haven't been attempts to get Microsoft executives talking about the subject, but the Redmond-based company has done a pretty remarkable job of steering clear of any definite answer.

When specifically asked about putting Office on iOS devices like the iPad and iPhone at the Morgan Stanley technology investor conference on Wednesday, Microsoft's Kurt DelBene kept up the tradition.

"We don't take it from the point of view, 'Do we need to have the PC software that's running on every single device?'; we look very much at 'What is the experience that we are looking to have on those devices?' " said DelBene.

Instead of committing (or not) to offering the Office suite on iOS, DelBene instead said that there are online versions of Office apps that can be accessed any time.

"We've actually done a lot of work on iOS devices this time around," he said. "We have enhanced the web applications pretty substantially, in partnership with Apple."

That's not much of a consolation to iOS users, though, since a browser-accessible app isn't quite the same has having an optimized, installed app on your tablet.

Despite the potential money that Microsoft could rake in, chances are the company doesn't want to install Office on the iPad because it wants to promote its own Surface Pro and RT tablets, alongside any other Windows 8-based tablet. Putting MS Word on the iPad simply gives potential buyers another reason to go with Apple's product.

At the same time, Apple charges a 30-percent commission for any app sold through its App Store. It's hard to imagine Microsoft wanting to both line Apple's pockets with cash while simultaneously driving customers away from its own devices.

Let's face it. It might be long time before we see Office on any iOS device.