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Jul 13, 09 - 03:12 pm Comment from: JAYGEE

Microsoft is the new Google

This doesn't seem like a good move, but I guess that's not a surprise, considering it's Microshaft. They are going to dumb down the internet version enough to make it impossible to use, and then people who may have been on the fence about office are going to shy away. That's just my prediction.

PS iWork sucks too. Open Office for live baby! Only fools pay for software!!!

Jul 13, 09 - 03:14 pm Comment from: loopy_nj

I won't be holding my breath on that Safari support!

Jul 13, 09 - 03:17 pm Comment from: Demon

Cripple it and then bombard them with upgrade to the full Office ads for a fully working web version. Sounds just like Microsoft. Call your customer's cheap tightwads is a sure fire way of getting them to buy your products.

Jul 13, 09 - 03:22 pm Comment from: Wings2Sky

I think it could actually be a good move on M$'s part - IF they do it right. That's a big IF. If they just had a version that is free of all the bloat-features, they might get a lot of people to use it. It would have to be responsive. And it would have to have an Office 2004 interface (I don't like 2008 and 2007 for Windows is just the stupidest interface from a human factors perspective that I have ever seen!) If they have a 2007 interface - I think it will tank. The other problem with this strategy is that I don't know how they will be able to charge their exorbitant prices for Office.
Like I said, too many IFs. They will screw it up.

Jul 13, 09 - 03:24 pm Comment from: John

Isn't Ballmer a marketing guy? Why on earth would a company run by a marketing guy say to its customers: "hey, you bunch of dumb tightwads, the first (dumbed down) hit is free!" Call me ignorant, but that seems like a pretty bad marketing scheme right there....

For Free? Well, that work for RIM when they give black berries for free to beat apple iphone. May be given products for free is the only way microsoft can gain adepts.

Jul 13, 09 - 03:28 pm Comment from: MidWest Mac

I can picture it now. I send off a document to someone on a serious topic, and at the bottom of the page is an ad for making your dick bigger.

The future sucks (unless you're an Apple customer).

First, that was a very weirdly written article. Sounded like something one of my highschoolers would have written.

This move make sense to me from one aspect. MS is trying to head off a mass exodus to Google Apps. Then again, by doing this they are actually acknowledging how powerful and useful Google's web based software can be. If they gimp it too much, people will move to Google. If they make it too good, people will eventually stop buying Office.

I kind of think it would have been better for MS to just let this one alone and only talk about how the Google can't do this or that.

"[UPDATE: Microsoft says it will support the Firefox and Safari browsers as well as IE.]"

...presumably the same way they "support" other browsers with their Outlook Web Access service - meaning that IE gets all the features, while standards-compliant browsers get the dumbed-down version.

Jul 13, 09 - 03:35 pm Comment from: Tiger

> Get this: Microsoft will announce today that....

They haven't so far....

" "It’s too early to say Microsoft has checkmated Google in online documents – the latest version of Office hasn’t shipped yet. But the sleeping giant in Redmond has clearly woken up to the Internet threat," "

Yeah, I'ld say it's too early to tell if there has been a checkmate. THE GAME HASN'T EVEN STARTED YET!!! I personally think it might be too soon to tell if the Dallas Cowboys are going to win the Super Bowl this year. And it might be too soon to tell if Bill O'Reilly will beat Obama in 2012. It might all so be too soon to tell if humanity will survive the next big asteroid hit. It's just too soon to tell...

This is good news. Office is excellent and making it a cloud service is very progressive of Microsoft.

Microsoft is not inherently bad - the business practices (including not testing software) are - but if they yield to market pressure to change, then that is good for everyone!

Moving to the ribbon interface was a great move. It works well, is a definite improvement, and is probably something Apple would've done.

Their support will likely be very good on all browsers. It will be built for IE8, which does a pretty good job of rendering sites.

Remember, you get what you pay for... uh... err...

Jul 13, 09 - 03:48 pm Comment from: LordRobin

Wow. Okay, I hate to admit it, but this is a brilliant move by Microsoft. This is by far and away the best strategy to keep the .doc, .xls, and .ppt file formats dominant, and that's what Microsoft really needs to protect.

Except, Microsoft will almost certainly screw this up. Expect the online experience to be a bloated, slow, buggy experience that doesn't work too well on non-IE browsers.

I mean, c'mon. This is Microsoft we're talking about.

------RM

Jul 13, 09 - 03:51 pm Comment from: Demon

Interesting how they have targeted the Laptop hunter ads to the lowest priced laptops in the market. Advertising that Windows PCs are cheaper then Macs. Now you have a MS Suit calling the same customer tightwads. Well Microsoft you can't have it both ways.

Jul 13, 09 - 03:53 pm Comment from: AlanAudio

There are three problems that I see here.

It will "probably appeal to tightwads...."
Well according to Microsoft's TV adverts, that's every Windows user because the aspirational brand is an Apple laptop, but the tightwads buy something with a cheaper sticker price.

Secondly "Microsoft can hook them into its online world and tempt them with its latest technology."
I take that to mean that they will irritate online users and keep nagging them to upgrade.

The last problem is "Office Web Applications will work better if you actually purchase Office 2010"
In other words, it will be crippled.

Jul 13, 09 - 03:57 pm Comment from: HolyMackerel

It will no doubt be based on Silverlight. I give them credit for taking a massive risk. I smell a rat somewhere - I assume it will not be free for corporations, or missing corporate features.

Jul 13, 09 - 04:11 pm Comment from: ron

face, "Only fools pay for software!!!"

And honest people.

Jul 13, 09 - 04:19 pm Comment from: Arnold Ziffel

Free and still WAAAYYY overpriced.

Jul 13, 09 - 04:34 pm Comment from: qka

Moving to the ribbon interface was a great move.

BULLSHIT!

How many times do folks have to be shafted by Microsoft before taking what they say with a ton of salt?

Jul 13, 09 - 04:53 pm Comment from: alansky

The average Office-using toad has only one reason for owning the software: to open Office docs they receive from other people. I seriously doubt that this user group is even slightly interested in having to open a web browser and visit the Microsoft site just to read a Word attachment. Nor would a task of even this minimal complexity be within the range of many dull-witted Windows users.

Did he really call them tight wads? Seems he went to the Edward J Hoover charm school and left with an A+.

Jul 13, 09 - 06:23 pm Comment from: FloydPink

Wonder if it will freeze and crash as well as the desktop version

Jul 13, 09 - 06:27 pm Comment from: Brulek

microsh*t doesn't give anything worthwhile away nor does it open up the source code of anything worthwhile (which, since it makes very little that's worthwhile anyway, it's almost a moot point)...office is bloated crap nowadays anyway. So slow and the file sizes have seemingly crept up by a good 30% from my experience. eg. Access 2003 database I last created was 512K, the corresponding office 2007 version was 751K which is 46.7% larger for the same damn database. I hate microsh*t. They suck.

Jul 13, 09 - 06:47 pm Comment from: Gordon Horne

Will documents made in the online version be compatible with the paid, desktop version and vice versa? Microsoft doesn't have the best track record for being compatible with itself.

Jul 13, 09 - 07:18 pm Comment from: FistOfGod

H1N1 is free too.

Jul 13, 09 - 07:25 pm Comment from: shen

"Their support will likely be very good on all browsers. It will be built for IE8, which does a pretty good job of rendering sites."

It is going to be very hard to take anything you say seriously after that....

Jul 13, 09 - 08:18 pmComment from: FistOfGod
H1N1 is free too.

Yes, but not ad supported...

MS Office, Fee Edition - kind of like Windows, but even lower than Home and netbook edition.

Jul 13, 09 - 11:40 pm Comment from: amyhre

But H1N1 can be shared freely. You don't have to ask which version the other person has or whether or not it's compatible with your body. Just *achoo* and there you go. Welcome to the social quarantine. Didn't catch that virus, did you AVG?

Almost worth it...

Well it looks like we're all going to find out one and for all if a corporation can give away true crap for nothing as in free.

the problem will be when people compare "web office" to google web apps. Google is making theirs better and better. A dumbed down version of MS office, complete with bugs that should have been eliminated years ago? or Google apps that keep getting better and better? hmmmmmmmm

There's a reason I've not had any MS software since 2004. MS sux!

MS is beating back.
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