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google docs

Microsoft Office 2010 Will Have Web-based Versions of Word, Excel and Powerpoint

July 13, 2009

In an expected and inevitable move, Microsoft has announced that the next version of Office will include Web-based versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote.

Not to be confused with Microsoft Live Office Workspaces, which lets users of the desktop Office suite collaborate online, Office Web Apps will be full lightweight versions of the products, allowing users to create, edit, save, and share docs on the Web. And, like obvious competitor Google Docs, Office Web Apps will be available for free.

Like Docs, which requires a Google account, it seems the only requirement to use Office Web Apps will be a Microsoft Windows Live account, with two other options as well:

“Office Web applications will be available in three ways: through Windows Live, where more than 400 million consumers will have access to Office Web applications at no cost; on-premises for all Office volume licensing customers including more than 90 million Office annuity customers; and via Microsoft Online Services, where customers will be able to purchase a subscription as part of a hosted offering.”

Unfortunately, there isn’t anything to try out yet – Microsoft says that the new version of Office and its accompanying Web version won’t be available until the first half of next year. For now, the company has launched a preview site and a series of videos.

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Google Wants You to Spend More Time on the Web

July 11, 2009

googlechromeGoogle Chrome and Google Docs have not only increased web-based use, but they have spurred their competitors to build products that bring users onto the web more and for longer periods of time. In fact, it’s rumored that Microsoft Office is coming to the Cloud very soon. Google Docs changed the game, and Microsoft reacted.

Google hopes for the same reaction from Microsoft and Apple to Chrome OS. Its biggest selling points, directly from Google, are that it will “get you onto the web in a few seconds,” that “most of the user experience takes place on the web,” and finally that “all web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies.”

This doesn’t sound at all like Google’s trying to build a competitor that users will choose over Microsoft. Instead, it sounds like its goal is to get people onto the web faster and for longer. Getting you to spend more time on the web is why Google based its OS on Chrome. You can expect that Microsoft and Apple will incorporate the best features of Chrome OS in their future iterations. That’s exactly what Google wants (and by the way, since Chrome OS is open-source, Google’s making it easy).

As long as you’re on the web, Google wins. So we need to stop framing the Google-Microsoft battle in the context of “Chrome OS vs. Windows,” because Google will not win a straight up battle. And guess what? That’s not Google’s goal. We need to frame it in the larger context of the Google Revenue Equation and how much time we spend on the web.

Chrome OS is just another step in getting us online, both directly and indirectly. If you view the battle with this in mind, then you realize that Google will almost certainly succeed. Google will have won once again.

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