theregoesdave

Microsoft has finally begun taking Google Docs and Spreadsheets seriously as a threat to the MS Office suite and is preparing to release a web-based edition of Office. While Microsoft isn’t known for playing well on other platforms nor for its innovative thinking as of late, this time it may just have a winning idea.

Sources say that Microsoft Office web applications will run on a variety of browsers, from Internet Explorer to Firefox and Safari. In addition, iPhone owners can rejoice at the ability to edit documents using the MS Office web applications on the go. Even better is that users will be able to use the applications without having to install any additional plugins or software components, though the company says that Silverlight will result in a crisper interface.

It looks like Microsoft Office web applications for businesses will be available via a hosted model for an additional licensing fee. There are hints that there may be an ad-supported as well as a paid version of the web applications that will be available for home users.

This raises the question of whether Microsoft will create the ability to store documents in the cloud as Google has done. This is important so that users have a way to access their documents from anywhere that is both stable and secure. Hopefully we’ll be getting more information on their document management strategy as we get closer to release.

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