We recently took an in-depth look at so-called Web office suites, which deliver typical desktop applications such as word processing and spreadsheets within a Web browser.
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Such software is typically viewed as a huge challenge to Microsoft's Office -- largely because most Web office suites are free, or close to it.
This week, Microsoft delivered its most direct response to its Web office competitors -- with a twist. Rather than let users *create* documents online, the new Office Live Workspace offering makes it possible to store, share and edit Office documents online -- as long as you also have (paid-for) Office apps on your desktop.
Brilliant strategy or marketing mistake? Could be a little of both. Today, Microsoft holds more than 95% of the office application market -- so leveraging that installed base and offering a nice service to make those apps better is clearly a good strategy.
But will making a last-generation product a little bit better by extending it via the Web be enough to fend off Web-based competitors?
For small businesses, here's what we'd recommend:
- If you already have ANY version of Microsoft Office running, stay with it. You've already paid for it and despite detractors it's good software for basic small business tasks. If you go this route, it's worth trying out Microsoft Office Live Workspace as well.
- It's hard to find ANY reason to upgrade to Microsoft Office 2007, even at a greatly reduced price.
- If you are looking for *new* office suite capabilities, stick with FREE. Use OpenOffice or the new IBM Symphony, both free desktop office suites. If you want to go free and online-only, it's hard to go wrong with Google.
