Who is bashing Apple’s free iWork software? A Microsoft executive, of course.

Of course he’s bashing Apple. They’re the biggest competitor. It’s his job to bash them… or is there more to it than that? In this trash talking session, there may be more valid points that sour grapes at work.

Microsoft corporate VP of communications Frank Shaw lashed out Wednesday at this week’s announcements from rival Apple, particularly its new iPads and decision to offer its iWork productivity suite and other software for free.

The no-cost iWork strategy is “not a very big (or very good) deal,” Shaw wrote in an official blog post. He called Apple’s apps “watered down,” arguing iWork is both less popular and powerful than Microsoft Office. He also dismissed the value iWork adds to iPads, characterizing Apple’s strategy as “an effort to convince people that their entertainment devices are really work machines.”