eagle_eye222001 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 [url="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-microsoft14-2009jul14,0,6321375.story"]http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-micr...0,6321375.story[/url] [i] Everyone predicted Microsoft Corp. wouldn't take long to fire back against Google Inc.'s latest foray into its home turf. It took less than a week. On Monday, Microsoft said it would offer a free version of its popular Office software suite that would run on the Internet. The Redmond, Wash., company did not mention its archrival by name, but analysts saw Monday's move as a strategy by Microsoft to protect one of its most profitable businesses against Google, which already dominates the Internet search market. The Web-based version of the Office suite will be available next year. "Microsoft was forced to provide a free product" as an answer to Google Docs, a suite of free, browser-based document and spreadsheet editing software, said Sheri McLeish, an analyst with Forrester Research. "It's a very competitive market out there, and this was Microsoft's opportunity to one-up Google by offering a much better product." The announcement, made at Microsoft's developers conference in New Orleans, is the latest tit-for-tat in an intense competition between the two technology giants. The Mountain View, Calif., search giant said last week that it would develop an operating system designed to attract users away from personal computers, where Microsoft is ubiquitous. Google's OS and software applications would run on the Internet, where Google has a commanding share of the Web audience. Last month Microsoft released Bing, its answer to Google's popular search engine. By giving away versions of its Office software, Microsoft risks cannibalizing one of its most profitable products. The company's business software division, which includes Office, made $9.3 billion in profit from $14.3 billion in sales during the first three quarters of its 2009 fiscal year. The unit also has revenue from other software applications and services such as Microsoft Exchange, but the bulk of its sales comes from Office, which includes the Word and Excel applications. About 80% of companies recently surveyed by Forrester use Microsoft's Office. Less than 8% use other document editing software, including IBM Corp.'s Lotus Symphony, Sun Microsystems Inc.'s StarOffice and Google Docs. For Microsoft, the imperative is to maintain its dominance, according to Melissa Webster, an analyst with IDC. She said a recent survey found that nearly everyone who used Web-based document editing software such as Google Docs also used Microsoft Office. Many, for example, create a document using Excel, then upload it to the Web to share with colleagues, who may read and edit the spreadsheet using a Web-based program such as Zoho Sheet or Google Docs. "Web-based tools are not taking share away from Microsoft's desktop Office suite," Webster said. "But to the extent that these products are complementary, Microsoft needs to get in the game. They risk losing users as people get more comfortable using Web-based tools. And they risk losing their edge." Microsoft's group product manager for Office, Chris Bryant, said its customers are increasingly using the Web to share and edit documents. "It's something our users have said they'd like," Bryant said. "Customers are telling us they expect to use the Web-based applications as companions to their desktop software." Bryant declined to outline how Microsoft plans to make money with the move, but hinted that business models could include advertising and fees for premium services such as online storage of large files. The free versions won't include all the features of the desktop software, priced between $70 for a basic student version and about $350 for the professional version. For the upcoming software suite Office 2010, Microsoft plans to let users edit video in PowerPoint and manipulate images in Word -- features that would be unavailable in the free versions. Investors didn't appear to be concerned about Microsoft's proposed giveaway. On Monday its shares gained 84 cents, or 3.7%, to close at $23.23.[/i] ---------------- Now playing: [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/the+red+jumpsuit+apparatus/track/face+down"]The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down[/url] via [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/signatunes/"]FoxyTunes[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffpugh Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I voted C, C, A. I dunno if I'll use it regularly 'cause I'm fine with OpenOffice and the free version won't have full features. I'll use if there's a formatting issue with a document I receive. I dunno how this will turn out for Microsoft, but finally they have some key opponents in the computing world after far too long. Time for them to change gears a bit. I guess I like Microsoft. I dunno. No strong feelings either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle_eye222001 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Share Posted July 14, 2009 [quote name='Sacred Music Man' post='1919372' date='Jul 14 2009, 12:49 AM']I voted C, C, A. I dunno if I'll use it regularly 'cause I'm fine with OpenOffice and the free version won't have full features. I'll use if there's a formatting issue with a document I receive. I dunno how this will turn out for Microsoft, but finally they have some key opponents in the computing world after far too long. Time for them to change gears a bit. I guess I like Microsoft. I dunno. No strong feelings either way.[/quote] Fair enough. I wonder what features they free version won't have. I think it will be difficult to walk a balanced line between the free and paid features. Interesting move on Microsoft. They must be worried to make such a move. ---------------- Now playing: [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/all+that+remains/track/two+weeks"]All That Remains - Two Weeks[/url] via [url="http://www.foxytunes.com/signatunes/"]FoxyTunes[/url] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldenchild17 Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 not sure how its going to be better than openoffice. Don't think I'll bother with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavenseeker Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 yes because it will most likely get more people to get it. dont know because it depends on how good of a system it really is yes because besides vista they have had great systems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightofChrist Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 Since using stumbleupon I've found about 15 services that already do this for free. Like always Microsoft is late to the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouisvilleFan Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 [quote name='goldenchild17' post='1919388' date='Jul 14 2009, 02:04 AM']not sure how its going to be better than openoffice. Don't think I'll bother with it.[/quote] I have OpenOffice on OS X Leopard and while it's pretty good, it's definitely not MS Office. There are usually compatibility issues with Office files and I wouldn't think of trying to edit a complex spreadsheet created with Excel in OpenOffice. But I use it because it's free and does what little I need to do for personal use. The nice thing about an online version of Office is that it would be the same regardless of your operating system, whereas with Office:mac you aren't getting the same features and I don't think Office is available on Linux at all. Now that Google and Palm are both developing their own operating systems, Microsoft is making sure everyone has easy access to Office via the Internet instead of programming Office for every OS, which means Office:mac will be no more (doubt that would break any hearts). Besides, all this is a natural development from Web 2.0. When you can run software through a web browser, you save yourself the hassle of programming for various operating systems and hardware configurations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philothea Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 If it doesn't do anything screwy... (this [i]is[/i] Microsoft after all) I might use it on occasion for viewing .doc files or .docx files where the formatting is so messed up that OO can't manage it. I note that this isn't a real glowing recommendation for Office. Also, this is a year in the future? We'll see if it happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 My editor paid for my upgrade to Office whatever, the .dox one. Now everyone I know who gets .dox things they can't open forward them to me to convert and send back as .doc. It would be nice if it was free so I wouldn't have to mess with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lounge Daddy Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I've tried the current Office Online. It's sluggish and clumsy. And as a Linux user, I'll keep using Google anyhow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lounge Daddy Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 [quote name='CatherineM' post='1919655' date='Jul 14 2009, 01:32 PM']Now everyone I know who gets .dox things they can't open forward them to me to convert and send back as .doc.[/quote] Ya, it kills me how they try to protect their product by using proprietary files formats. I guess that is a business model that worked in the 80s and the 90s. But all that does today is confuse and frustrate people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatherineM Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 [quote name='Lounge Daddy' post='1919774' date='Jul 14 2009, 02:03 PM']Ya, it kills me how they try to protect their product by using proprietary files formats. I guess that is a business model that worked in the 80s and the 90s. But all that does today is confuse and frustrate people.[/quote] I keep trying to upgrade my husband's so I won't have to do his stuff, but he doesn't want to take the time to learn the new one. I guess I can't blame him, I refuse to upgrade to Vista. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicCid Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 When using the new Office, I always save in the format that allows the old Office to open it. I realized to do this real fast as I switch between both Office versions. Otherwise, I'd be stuck having to convert my own files so that I could use them. The format also opens for new Office as well, so I really don't see the difference or why to save it as .docx instead of just .doc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missionarybelle Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I think it's a good move. but I have office for mac on my computer already so I probably wouldn't bother with it. I don't really like microsoft though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princessgianna Posted July 15, 2009 Share Posted July 15, 2009 I am just going to have to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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