Microsoft launches online version of Office
In a half-step into the growing realm of Web-based computing, Microsoft is announcing a service that allows users to extend their use of the company’s dominant Office software into the online world. With some fanfare — a stunt scheduled for today in New York featuring actor Jeremy Piven and scripts of HBO’s “Entourage” — the software giant said it was opening to the public a test version of its “Office Live Workspace,” a service that allows users to save Office documents such as memos and spreadsheets online so that they may be accessed by other users connected to the Web.”We are responding to the most urgent needs of the 500 million Office users. They want to access their documents anywhere,” said Guy Gilbert, a senior product manager for Microsoft. The venerable software giant’s embrace of the Web, however, is relatively tentative.
Microsoft’s fortune has long rested with the sales of software that users have installed on their own computers, not computing over the Internet. Increasingly, however, as more computing is done online, the company’s dominance has been challenged, and it has sought to move to the Web. While similar products offered by Google, Zoho and others allow users to do word processing and use spreadsheets online for free, the new Microsoft approach simply allows users who already have purchased their Office software to make easier use of it online. Microsoft Office Live enables users to save more than 1,000 Microsoft Office documents to one place online. With the software, a user or collaborators can access the documents and make changes. The popularity of Google Docs will probably be a tough competitor for Microsoft in first months, but the situation can easily swap in Microsoft’s favour after some time, as MS Office basically dominates the market.
Source: Washington PostÂ
Comments(18)
cool..
Google docs anyone?
I think google docs is better than this Office Live Workspace
Yea…
Hasn’t google done this!?
Hmm….Something tells me that m$ isn’t going to be free….and as its ONLY online – cracks will not work!!! meh!
Long live google + freeware!
Nice start for a Beta Online Workspace.
But I must say, Microsoft must put a lot more effort
to beat the Google: docs, spreadsheet, contacts, calendar…
Wait, i still don’t understand something …So unless you already “purchased” an office products suite, you are not able to use this online service? This reeks of MS spygating harder on everyone…noice.
“but the situation can easily swap in Microsoft’s favour after some time, as MS Office basically dominates the market.”
Doubt it. Not only is google docs free and VERY usefuland beautifully integrated into gmail as well, but there are TONS of other places that will give you free online office suites. There are multiple sites that have created an online version of OpenOffice in case google docs is too lite for your needs. Prepare for authenicity checks, crappy performance that relied on AJAX and Silverlight. Going down *this* road will leave you bleeding, ladies and gents.
I call shenanigans on the people above me. Google docs is horrible for anything that needs a good layout. I’m not sure Microsoft can do any better but you guys are kidding yourselves if you think Google Docs is a good replacement for Office.
Outlook Web Access has worked fine for years now, so to extend this to their other products has taken a long time thats all.
But, the real trick is when they roll out a server product for businesses to always have the latest patched version on every machine with no fuss.
Where they will charge home users $10 a month, they can charge business $20.
And it will probably be worth every penny.
The hatred of Microsoft from teenagers who haven’t worked anywhere else but the local McDonald’s is laughable.
sooo, what happens when your isp starts to mess with you internet connection and cuts you off every couple of minutes? LOL! i see no sense of this besides mobile products.
Google Docs is much much better than this online office … Microsoft really needs to work hard
Nice. A good advantage over Google Docs is that you can integrate it easily with Office using their “Office Add-In”.
Soooo lame…
If people weren’t such a bunch of sheep MS Office would be dead now anyway. Open Office is just better.
google docs is incredibly lame
but this thing has similar formating problems as far as i can see…
Google docs is crap… This couldn’t possibly be any worse!