In an attempt to compete with rivals such as Google who are offering internet based software Microsoft is to offer a free web-based version of office 2010. Microsoft has said that Office web applications which will include Word, PowerPoint and Excel will run through their Windows Live Service.
Google has been moving to areas that were traditionally dominated by Microsoft and have naturally increased the pressure on Microsoft by doing this. This is great news for the user as it will result in software becoming far more accessible and not too mention reduces the cost involved with obtaining new software.
Google’s announcement last week that it intends o extend its Internet browser – Google Chrome which is currently reported to be used on 90% of computers worldwide and is directly competing with Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. The extension to Chrome will turn it into a operating system to rival Microsoft Windows.
Microsoft has said that Office Web Applications, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel, will run through Windows Live which already has more than 400million users.
Although the new web application will be available free for personal users companies will also be able to purchase subscriptions to access the programs through Microsoft operated data centres.
Although Microsoft haven’t disclosed when the new technology will be available but it’s expect it will be released early next year. Manager of Microsoft Office Products has said they wanted to make sure that when they brought applications to the Web they did it in a way that they can delight their customers without sacrificing quality.
Microsoft said that they have really raised the bar and the level of expectation for what the Web-based applications can do and how they work complements the apps you use on the desktop on personal computers.
This move obviously comes as Technology Company’s fight for greater dominance of services that are being offered over the internet rather than users needing to buy software to install on their machines.
