Look Out Google! Microsoft Office Web Enters the Cloud

Microsoft, for nearly two decades, has been dominant with two products: Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. But Microsoft made a bold addition with the recent announcement of their new Office Web applications — Web-based versions of several desktop Microsoft Office applications — during the Professional Developer's Conference (PDC). This news comes just as Microsoft announces its various cloud services that will unquestionably play a pivotal role in the company's future.

For years after Google established Google Docs as a serious player in the Web-based office arena, Microsoft never offered a competing product, which was a questionable decision at best. The company was obviously complacent with Office 2007 and Office 2008.

Times are changing though and Microsoft had to give in to customers' needs by providing a solution that was no longer restricted to a single device. Well, after all the activities at PDC2008, it is clear that Microsoft has risen to the challenge.

Office Enters the Cloud

Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote are all heading to cyberspace. While there aren't many details about each individual application, it is clear that 95 percent of the users who use these Web-based versions of the products will be able to accomplish most of what they need in a production environment.

Excel running within a Web browser

Some say that these Web-based applications will function as an extension to their desktop counterparts, bringing the best of both worlds together. Others have said that the new online applications will eventually replace Microsoft Office entirely, and this is the first step. Perhaps both of those expectations will come true with time. Either way, the consumers will ultimately benefit.

The big selling point with this move to the cloud is that users will no longer be tethered to any specific hardware device to get to their office applications — something that would have seemed trivial for Microsoft to rectify in the past.

Microsoft's Senior Vice President, Chris Capossela, stated that users will be able to access these Web-based applications through Microsoft Office Live Workspace, a service that allows the management of documents (similar to Google Docs).

Microsoft Live Workspace lets users manage various documents

There is only one catch with Microsoft's offering of a SaaS office suite according to Janice Kapner, Microsoft Senior Communications Director of the Information Worker Group: the applications will either be ad-supported or subscription-based — this may or may not be a big deal, depending on who is asked.

Interestingly, the typical issue of lackluster support for Web browsers other than Microsoft's own Internet Explorer is said to be non-existent. Microsoft intends on fully supporting Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Windows Mobile devices. It is a rare thing to see coming from Microsoft, but it just shows how things have much things have changed.

Sorry Google, It's Just Business

Steve Ballmer's bunch is confident in not only offering an alternative to Google Docs and the like, but providing solutions that can outperform the competition.

However, it still doesn't negate the fact that Microsoft has plenty of work to do.

Look Out Google! Microsoft Office Web Enters the Cloud

\n\nMicrosoft, for nearly two decades, has been dominant with two products: Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office. But Microsoft made a bold addition with the recent announcement of their new Office Web applications -- Web-based versions of several desktop Microsoft Office applications -- during the Professional Developer's Conference (PDC). This news comes just as Microsoft announces its various cloud services that will unquestionably play a pivotal role in the company's future.

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