Consumers have to wait for Web-based Office
Those wanting to get their hands on the Web-based versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will have to wait a little bit longer.
Business Division President Stephen Elop said in an October interview that a technology preview of the browser-based applications would come this year, followed by a beta in 2009. However, it turns out Microsoft is using a rather tortured interpretation of the term "technology preview."
It's currently being used by fewer than 1,000 Microsoft employees, as part of a test that started last month and is slated to go through February. Consumers won't be able to try a test version of the products until sometime next year. Microsoft isn't saying when, but I'd say you'll have plenty of time to try the Windows 7 beta before you have to worry about testing the Office Web apps.
Ultimately, Microsoft is planning the release of the Office Web Applications in conjunction with the next wave of Office product, code-named Office 14. Microsoft has not offered a release date for the desktop version of Office 14.
Microsoft is planning two ways of offering the browser-based Office programs--one for consumers and the other for businesses looking to offer Office Web apps to their workers. Consumers will be able to use them through Office Live. The company currently has a free product called Office Live Workspace that lets users view and share--but not edit--Office documents.
Meanwhile, rivals like Google and Zoho already offer editing abilities. Microsoft is staking its claim on being able to offer better compatibility and document fidelity with its products. The company has recently had some big customers consider abandoning Office and move to Google Apps, but has wooed some of them back by sharing their plan for the Office Web apps.
Procter & Gamble, for example, took a long look at moving to Google Apps, but decided to stick with Microsoft after some high-powered lobbying from Redmond. Elop said that Microsoft's pitch included details on its plans for the Web-based versions of the Office programs.
"This was part of the conversation, absolutely," Elop said. "We have been sharing with customers under varying circumstances to a greater or lesser extent."
Microsoft has not definitively said how it will price the products, but it has noted that Office Live has both subscription and free products, suggesting it may have both free and paid versions of the Web apps.
For businesses, the Office Web Applications will be offered as part of Microsoft's SharePoint server. In either case, the Office Web Apps will only work when a computer is connected to the Internet.
Energizer CIO Randy Benz told me last month that he expects the Office Web Applications to open doors for him. Benz said that a lower-cost Web-only option probably won't lower the overall cost of Office for his company, but it should mean that a new class of workers gets access to Office.
"Every PC has the full (Office) suite," Benz said. "But we limit the number of PCs."
Microsoft Vice President Chris Capossela said he sees things similarly. Right now there about 500 million users of Office, he said, but a lot of those copies haven't been paid for.
"We see a tremendous opportunity to sell more," he said.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Google docs is fine and free if you want.
Microsoft are so stuck on software that their version will require megabytes of bloated code on a clunky old hard drive in order to work. That is not the future, rather a legacy. But even in this day the Microsoft mentality still exists and they will make a ton of money of people who know no better.
Being productive only if you have net access is not the future. It's backwards thinking. Limiting your choices is never a sound strategy.
I hate Office 2007 - I swtiched to this, free and almost looks like 2003, I hate the RibbonS!!!!!!!!
Of course, I think I'm the only one that likes the ribbon. I'll just have to live with that. If I say it's good because everything is in one place perhaps you'll say it's bad because having menus and toolbars allows you to get to what you need from various locations and you can work with the software on your terms and customise them. So, I'm not saying you're wrong. We're just different. I do wish the ribbons were more configurable though. I'd like to organize and and make my own tabs with frequently used items on them.
However, I still use OpenOffice too and a lot. It's free and it does do many things much better than MS Office and my data isn't locked into a closed source solution. However, certain parts of it are still pretty buggy. Especially in the database app, but since I'm not a heavy user of either product it hasn't caused me any problem yet. So, I'm not trying to say I like Office 2007 more than OpenOffice. I'm just trying to say I like the ribbon part. Just the ribbon part.
It's just like buying a new car and finding a keypad instead of a wheel and pedals to drive it.
I think it simply sucks! I have more than 6 months since switching to 2007 but I'm still having trouble getting my way through the ribbons... I think they're plainly stupid! Beside, they take so much out of your screen space! I believe I'll switch back to 2003...
If this "CLOUD" version will have a free version offered with advertisements at the top or the embedding of advertising into documents created then what we have currently with IFRAMES being hijacked and infecting then I could see this as a terrible firestorm of virus activity. I hope all the antivirus software makers are ready for this.
I do not need Microsoft office online or local anymore.
A power user of Microsoft Office is an oxymoron.
It makes me laugh when people tout Microsoft Office as some sort of powerful application.
Most people do not use 80% of the features of Office and if you want real power and control, then build web pages not docs and for docs use the Open Document Format. It is a standard just as HTML is a standard.
People who use Microsoft software and think they are power users are blind to their real condition.
The idea behind ribbons is to improve the ease in which we access intermediate and advanced features and functionality, thus advancing more individuals into the "power user" realm. The end result is that we create better looking documents that convey our message more effectively with far less effort. Advancement of the user interface can have a powerful impact on changing the amount of users that use those functions to 80% of the time.
Until Ajax and newer technologies create a more "application" efficient interface without constant refreshes, online apps will be relagated to the lesser roles of basic to intermediate functionality.
I've got $10 that says Google Apps will implement the feature before browser based MS Office gets out of beta. IMO, Google Apps will soon be "good enough" for a very large percentage of business users.
Heavy duty users (authors, screenwriters, designers, etc.) will find other options for desktop usage. Occasional users will discover Google Apps and OpenOffice.
IBM has already launched their cheaper per user offensive to Windows and Office. How many more contenders will step into the ring?
See http;//1000opinions.blog.com
Office isn't moving to being exclusive to the web, but to be capable of being used "offline" (locally, on a PC like you do now and have done forever) AND "online".
Spilled coffee on your laptop and need to get that report done? Run to the libary (which has an outdated office, or none maybe) and use YOUR office to complete it, within a internet browser.
It's ment to complement. Not to replace.
I mean... if your web link drops (say a dumbo digging for a pipe accidentally cuts your fiber cable), or if you're in a place where no Internet connection is available (say in a plane) then... what!?
Google already posted something similar. Besides making crap out of your word formatting it does nothing useful... I think it sucks....
I mean... if your web link drops (say a dumbo digging for a pipe accidentally cuts your fiber cable), or if you're in a place where no Internet connection is available (say in a plane) then... maybe you could use the normal Microsoft Office!
Interesting that a company like Google posts and also bets in something so useless, don't you think? Besides, making online out of the best text formatting tool in the market that just happens to also be the market leader is useful for anyone unbiased with just a little bit of imagination (I'm afraid that seems to exclude you)... I think you suck (if anything, for claiming that something you've never tried "sucks")...
I also often rely on many features in Office that aren't offered (yet) in free Web-based alternatives - whatever others might say in dismissing "power users" of Microsoft products, I find many of Office's more sophisticated tools essential for day-to-day work.
Microsoft bringing in a cloud version of Office is a good thing. Google Apps and MS Office each have their place, but currently I use Apps very sparingly just for notes that I expect to access later on different un-networked computers. As Microsoft brings its suite to the Web and Google builds on the feature sets of its Web suite, we'll probably see a different competition emerge.
- by davidsmi December 8, 2008 6:38 AM PST
- I'm one of those people who need the extra features of Office vs. Google Docs, but most people aren't. I took a quick look at Google Docs and like it very much.
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(28 Comments)I think an advantage Microsoft will have is mesh.com. It syncs your files to the cloud and you can use WebOffice there - then back to your PC where you can use the full Office (even if your connection is broken).
If Google had such a sync program I'd be happy to use Google Docs when away from my computer.