Computer Daily NewsThings are rumbling in the online software jungle. With Google appearing to make gains with its free, Web -delivered Docs & Spreadsheets software – now joined by a PowerPoint-style presentations program, and all sharpened by collaboration tools allowing others to work on the same files via the Web – Microsoft has begun firing back, and Adobe is also fumbling for ammunition.
At the weekend, Microsoft unveiled a new Web component for its desktop-based Office programs which promises to let computer users store, share and comment on documents. But – unlike the Google product – the new system will not at this stage let users create new files from scratch online.
From today Office users will be able to sign up to be part of an early beta test of what it is calling Office Live Workspace.
The so-called “workspace” will give users about 250 megabytes of storage, enough room to keep about 1000 average Office documents online, Microsoft says. PC users can upload Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, and use the site to e-mail friends or colleagues and invite them to read and add comments to those documents through a Web browser.
But, if users want to edit the text, they must open the document using an installed – and legal – copy of Microsoft Office.
The service is compatible with Office 2003 and Office 2007, and users will be able to save from Office to the Web site and open files they’ve stored online, Microsoft says,
The service is not to be confused with Microsoft’s existing Office Live, a set of tools for helping small business users build Web sites. That is to be rebranded as Office Live Small Business.
– In a separate development, rival software company Adobe is also moving into Web delivery. It has acquired Virtual Ubiquity, a small US start-up which has built a free Web word processor called Buzzword. At its Max 2007 developer conference in Chicago, Adobe also is expected to Share, a service that will let users share and work on documents together online.