Microsoft’s Office Web Apps dilemma

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

Microsoft finds itself in between a hard place and a particularly large chunk of stone with the impending launch of its Office 2010 Web Applications.

Make them too good, and Microsoft risks slaughtering one of its two biggest cash cows (Office and Windows being the products that keep Steve Ballmer in sharp suits). Water them down too much, however, and Microsoft runs the risk of powerful rivals such as Google or Adobe making vast improvements to their own online Apps and stealing Microsoft’s lunch.

It’s a problem Microsoft is clearly conscious off. It’s bravely decided to give consumers and small businesses free access to the Office Web Applications via Windows Live, even if they haven’t bought a copy of the client software.

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Office 2010 Applications & Editions

Monday, July 13th, 2009

The, invitation only, Office 2010 Technical Preview has finally started and Microsoft have released details of which applications are going to be available in which editions of the Office suite.

As the information is a little difficult to take in, I thought I’d do a quick summary table.

The main changes are the reduction of the number of editions from eight to five and the fact that the Small Business Edition (which had more applications than Standard Edition) is retired and replaced by the new Home & Business Edition (which has fewer applications than Standard Edition). Another change is that Standard Edition is only going to be available through Volume Licensing.

Some very good news is that all editions will now carry OneNote. Hooray!

Update: Just for clarification, the spot against Web Apps in the table above is the right to run the new Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote web based applications on your own server hardware. Everyone will have access to the Web Apps free through Office Live or through a hosted subscription service.

Microsoft Office 2010 screenshots

Monday, July 13th, 2009

Microsoft has unveiled the first details of its forthcoming Office 2010 suite. Read our news story to find out what you can expect, and scroll down for a sneak peek at the changes. You can also read our complete preview here. Remember to click the image for the full-size view.

Square ribbon

After the complete visual overhaul of Office 2007, it’s not surprising Microsoft’s playing it a little more conservative with Office 2010. The controversial ribbon remains and has been rolled out across all applications including Outlook, but it’s now blockier – bringing it in line with the design of Windows 7.

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Microsoft Office 2010 trailer kills Clippy

Friday, July 10th, 2009

It’s official. Microsoft’s marketing department has relocated to a smoky cafe in Amsterdam and is enjoying the special muffins. The company’s just posted its promo advert for Office 2010 and it’s madder than a hatter in an electric chair.

Filmed by a Michael Bay enthusiast and featuring some gravel-throated voiceover – they’ve turned Office 2010 into a summer action blockbuster. Whatever was cracking in Microsoft’s collective head has now quite obviously snapped to superb effect. Expect explosions, car chases, shouting and the kind of crazy usually reserved for US Michael Jackson fans.

At the heart of this nonsense is the death of Clippy – the rubbish Office assistant who so blighted our lives 10 years back, though our favourite moment arrives at the end of the trailer when the reviewer’s quotes flash up. Bonkers, bonkers, wonderfully bonkers.

Those Internet Explorer 8 ads? They were just the beginning it turns out. Hoorah.