Microsoft Announces Web-Based Office365 210
suraj.sun writes "Aiming to bolster its hosted software for businesses, Microsoft announced today that it is adding Web-based versions of Office to its collection of hosted software for business, Office365. It will also offer traditional Office as a subscription-based service. Microsoft is pricing the service as low as $6 per user per month, though that version includes only the Web-based versions of Office."
"Best with IE" or not? (Score:3, Interesting)
It isn't mentioned in the article, but does anyone know if Office365 "works best" with IE or is it browser-agnostic? For example, Microsoft's Outlook Web Access is quite decent when accessed with IE but with Firefox or Safari it's not nearly as nice.
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Nothing more complicated than a "hello world" page is browswer-agnostic.
But it's also a pretty safe bet that it's not a true browser app (I'm not sure what that means), but will be Silverlight based. So on that front, so long as you're running a browser that supports Silverlight, you should get the exact same experiance. There may be more info in TFA, but it's down for me at the moment, so I'm just going to speculate wildly.
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Just "Hello, world" then, in pure ASCII?
Guess that whole HTML and CSS and Javascript standards thing must have been my imagination.
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Their web site claims "Works with the devices you use most - including PC, Mac, Windows Phone, iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry" but it doesn't say "Works well".
I'd think it would have to be relatively browser-agnostic to make that claim, but who knows?
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If it really works on iPhone then at least we know it doesn't use Flash or SilverLight.
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The Office Web Apps, for what they do, work on Chrome/FireFox/Opera just fine at work. Sharepoint also works fine on all of those now, too.
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This is more of the last few year's trend of making everything web-based just so the company making it can appear to be with the times of having everything web/cloud/subscription based with no real advantage
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
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A bloody genius, that's who. Between OpenOffice and Microsoft Office Home & Student Edition (only slightly more expensive than Works' retail pricing, not that anyone ever paid for it), Works doesn't make sense anymore, if it ever really did in the first place. Creating a watered down version of Office wasn't a bad idea, mind you, but making it incompatible with Office and pushing it as an OEM solution just caused a ton of frustration among people who rightly expected "
Re:"Best with IE" or not? (Score:5, Funny)
If you run it on anything other than IE, it will take 365 days to load. Hence, the name.
IE? nah, just Silverlight (Score:5, Informative)
Hotmail is controlled by MS. IIRC, about a year ago they started displaying PPS (and maybe DOC) attachments in-browser. They did so while promoting the "works best with Silverlight... install" here.
So they have gathered enough statistics on Silverlight and any failures in display that always come from end-user feedback. Now, they are ready to entice corporations. The corps will have to approve Silverlight for their outdated browsers, or be faced with the same "degraded" fallback interfaces that result in reduced productivity that you already noted with Outlook's non-native execution.
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I reviewed the Web-based versions of Office a while ago for InfoWorld. I was pretty underwhelmed [infoworld.com], but browser support wasn't really a problem. Microsoft is officially supporting IE, Firefox, and Safari. In practice, I found Chrome and even Konqueror worked pretty much fine. You get better document rendering and maybe some other goodies if you have Silverlight installed, but it's not necessary.
On the other hand, the functionality you get from Web-based Office is a far cry from what you can do with the deskto
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The latest version of Outlook Web Access is pretty browser-agnostic. Previous versions were not, that's true.
Office Web Apps work fine on Firefox, though they might require having Silverlight installed. I'm not going to touch Safari, thanks.
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Hello there! I work on the Outlook Web App team. The version of OWA shipped in Exchange 2010 SP1 is supported in (and works equally well in)...
- IE 7+ (note that IE6 is not supported)
- Firefox 3+
- Safari 3.1+
- Chrome 3+
This is the version of OWA included in Office 365.
Source:
http://help.outlook.com/en-us/140/bb899685.aspx [outlook.com]
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MS office does not create a mess in a workplace where everyone else uses OpenOffice. But that makes OpenOffice better, not the other way around.
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What you mean is it works in silverlight, not in those browsers. Had they used flash at least other OSes would be supported.
That is low (Score:2)
That is the low price?
So for a company of 500, a medium size business, you are looking at $36k/year and no real reduction in onsite costs other than adding office to the images and the cost of office.
Seems to expensive for small businesses and too low value for the big ones.
Re:That is low (Score:4, Informative)
$6 / mo = $72 / year. Considering Office Professional costs close to $400, this is basically a subscription model. Yes, the $6/mo is cheaper than $400 / 5 years.
If $6 / mo is *expensive*, then I'm not sure how people manage payroll.
Re:That is low (Score:4, Interesting)
You forgot to factor in the 25GB Exchange online mailboxes and Sharepoint Online for each user that doesn't come with Office Professional.
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Or, to put it a different way, the cheapest version of Microsoft's hosted apps system is 44% more than the price of Google Apps Premier (and #DIV/0% more than the cost of Google Apps Standard.)
Expensive is always in terms of the alternatives.
By not spending more than is warranted on other things.
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Re:That is low (Score:5, Informative)
When one consider that Office is $400 - $500 per license it is "half off".
Also I think it is more aimed at small business.
Fortune 500 can drop $500 a license per user no big deal.
A startup could preserve capital by paying $72 per year.
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A startup could preserve captial by using openoffice, and starting a precident of not getting locked in right off the bat.
"The cloud" is not the horse to back.
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$36k/year is expensive for a company of 500 people?
Tell you what (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll install OpenOffice 500 times and you can pay me the $36k. Deal?
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Sure, if you include 25 gb managed mailboxes for the 500 people with a 99.9% uptime SLA and 24/7 support, backups, failover, etc. That is going to be entertaining.
Mod up (Score:2)
Not sure why this is marked troll.
Exchange Online is part of the deal, providing all those services.
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That SLA is worthless, read it. At most you get back a percentage of what you paid.
But with that included it is not that bad.
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Man... I'd love to even have a 1gb mail box.
I'm under outlook and limited to 100mb (as is everyone at the company).
I have 5gb each in my personal accounts.
My outlook work accounts clogs with a few screen shots these days.
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Drat! You're right! It would be far too difficult to get 500 people Gmail accounts.
You got me.
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Now, think about that really hard for a sec. A -lot- of companies go with Google Apps Premier for their gmail accounts (at 50$/year/user). There's a reason for it.
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Windows apologists kept repeating the linux is too different mantra for years now they gotta defend the ribbon. Yay! karma exists.
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Certainly I never said that "Linux is too different", so lumping me in with people who did is a strawman at best.
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sure, and "Cue a dozen people who claim OO is better because they're too luddite for the ribbon interface" isn't a strawman right ?
Because there is no way anybody can claim that OO is better for other reasons, e.g. because it's free from control of a monopolist corporation, runs under linux on inter ppc alpha and other archs, can work with the latest version on a 700mhz pIII with 256 megs if you really need it, has a document format which is standardized in less than 3000 pages and without stuffing the ISO
Its website (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Its website (Score:5, Funny)
https://docs.google.com/ [google.com]
Re:Its website (Score:4, Interesting)
Just the link alone makes me wonder... Does MS have a secure site for office365?
Server Error in '/' Application. (Score:5, Insightful)
Ouch. That link is slashdotted or something, so all we got is that error.
Which was great, decent reminder that MS hosting all your office documents on the cloud reduces your company's effective ownership of the files. One day IT blocks the domain inadvertently, or it gets DDoS'd by anonymous, or the local spyware kills it in your hostfile, or all the phones and internet go down at the company because of a cut cable... so then what do the managers do to access their files?
Cloud indeed.
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Strange Name (Score:4, Funny)
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There won't be version numbers. They'll just roll out updates, fixes & new features over time. Just like Google Docs and GMail - I don't recall seeing version numbers there, updates just roll out every now and then.
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It just means that it won't work during leap years -- and the next one is less than 15 months away.
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Office 366 is reserved for Leap Years...
'Only' the Web-based versions of Office ? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Guess that covers Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Access. So what's the rest, then ? Visio ? Exchange ?
Good point. Google Docs has a word processor thats better because its free. Its a competitive market. But what about Visio?
Who out there has a web based Visio that I can use? Like for network and wiring diagrams?
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Man, I'll give you some human excrement for free ... that doesn't make it better.
Free crap is still free crap. Not saying that the Google app is, in fact, crap. Merely that "free" and "better" are on separate axes.
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Exchange has had Outlook Web Access for years - it literally invented the AJAX webmail interface, in fact. My university started offering webmail through outlook.com (which really does look and work a lot like desktop Outlook) a couple years ago, and it's far better than any other webmail interface that I've tried.
Office 364 ... if it crashes in a day. (Score:2, Funny)
Well, it is really a bad name per my understanding.
To keep up with the trend, they should try "iOffice", "FaceOffice",
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Powerpoint-Roulette, how many slides till an adult image?
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Well, it is really a bad name per my understanding.
To keep up with the trend, they should try "iOffice", "FaceOffice",
It's Office365 because it won't work on Feb 29.
Surprised it's taken this long: (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm surprised it's taken this long to get this kind of offering and price point out -- it's seemed clear for a while that Microsoft would like to grow a presence in the "software as a service" space.
Re:Surprised it's taken this long: (Score:5, Informative)
LOL. A little tidbit of history that may not be widely known or at least not widely remembered - Microsoft has actually developed web-based versions of its Office product on at least 2 previous occasions, perhaps more. These products never saw the light of day, and for various reasons, strategic and political chief among them, the projects were axed, developers reassigned, and code tossed away then restarted some time later when somebody decided that NOW the time was ripe for a web-based office.
Amusingly enough, I believe one of these efforts was part of what was originally termed the ".NET initiative" and was called "Office.NET" at least as a working title - back when .NET meant anything and everything, before they decided that .NET actually was the class library and VM for their C# language. See, for example, this article [cnet.com] from back in 2002.
Remember what a confused mess the .NET initiative was? It's truly amazing how much Microsoft has had its head up its ass over the last decade. Windows 7 is the first decent product they've put out in *years*.
A friend of mine from college, a very bright guy, was one of the project managers on the Office.NET project before it got axed. Anyway, he was so frustrated by his experience with this project that I believe it was in part his reason for leaving Microsoft.
So... it seems like they finally followed through on this, but it's not like the idea just occurred to them recently. No, it's more likely they only decided to bring it to market now because of the cloud computing hype and the fact that the traction of OpenOffice.Org and other Office alternatives has them scared shitless (of course, OpenOffice has just fragmented itself and will probably manage to squander the traction they've finally obtained after all these years of effort).
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Thanks for your informative post (you're already at the exalted height of +5 so we can't mod more).
Office386 ! (Score:5, Funny)
I misread the title as "Office386", and was thinking, "Boy, Microsoft really is falling behind the curve".
Bill Gates quote (Score:3, Funny)
Gates: "365 days a year otta be enough for anybody."
What if I lose internet access? (Score:2)
There are a few types of programs I would expect to lose functionality when I lose internet access. MMO games, an internet browser, email.
There are some I would expect to always be functional regardless of internet connection. Media players, single-player games, and office suites are some examples.
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There are a few types of programs I would expect to lose functionality when I lose internet access. MMO games, an internet browser, email.
There are some I would expect to always be functional regardless of internet connection. Media players, single-player games, and office suites are some examples.
You must be part of my generation of older computer users who still remember what it's like to not have always-on, high-speed broadband access streaming everywhere.
I guess my point here is there's no point in worrying about the "what-ifs" when you lose internet access, because for todays generation of internet addicts who are tethered online with no less than three devices within 17.5 meters of their body at all times, the answer to your question is very simple; nothing will get done. At all. It'll be mas
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Indeed, I'm part of that still-mostly-young generation that grew up with the option of dial-up and broadband was not ubiquitous. Pagers were mainstream and cell phones were just breaking into the mass market.
More importantly, I come from a low-income background where there were some months where we had to decide to pay the electricity bill in whole and risk losing water or try to negotiate with the electric company some way to pay later. Plenty of people still live the same way and would likely easily be su
Imagine the board decision meeting (Score:4, Funny)
Seattle moderator: Right, we wanna shov... sell our Office sofware [sic.] to the wider public and we need a name. You John?
John: Well, how's about we name it Office %VERSION%++
SM: Very good indeed, John... You Mark?
Mark: It's for the people
(Several hours pass)
SM: (Yelling) Oh for god's sake, we can't name everything 360, can we!
Some nobody: (Very meek voice) 365 maybe? For the year, you know? OK, I'll get my coat.
(Several more hours pass)
SM: (Desperate) OK, 365 it is.
Another nobody: (Very softly) And what about leap years?.
The Numbers (Score:5, Informative)
I work for an New Zealand small - medium company. The stacks up thus:
Option 1. 20 seat Office 2010 enterprise license - $13,000 per annum
Option 2. Office 365. 20 x $27/month x $NZ Exchange = $8484 per annum.
Option 3. 20 OEMS with hardware purchase(assume 4 year cycle): $2500 per annum
PS: US readers will think I have these numbers grossly wrong. I havent. The cost of doing business in NZ is expensive. Option 1 could drop in price. I have already had an email stating this could change as they are keen to always "find a best fit for an organisation".
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Disclaimer: I'm a contractor who's passed through Fronde recently (not an employee), and have my ear to the ground and just wanted to share that you might be able to get a better deal with Google than Office365 in NZ (real disclaimer: personally I prefer OpenOffice and Ubuntu, but I realise not ever
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(Of course, that's just the monetary cost. You'll probably need to expend some time doing a little user re-education...)
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Leap Year Fail (Score:4, Funny)
They're going to be so screwed when the service goes down for an entire day every four years. Ah, but then they'll introduce Office365+.
1.2 GB active x control (Score:4, Funny)
All you need to do is install this 1.2 GB active x control. Or you can opt for the 1.6 GB active x professional version that includes "web bob" and "clippy".
Turning company direction (Score:2)
Exchange on Linux (Score:2)
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No, it just means that it doesn't work on leap years.
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No, it just means that it doesn't work on leap years.
Sort of like the PS3?
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Well they would have done it, but they're still trying to fix this [crunchgear.com].
And I'm sure Gates would say '3 significant figures is enough for anyone,' but I accept no fewer than 5 in which case a year is, more accurately, 364.24 days.
Re:For $6 a month (Score:5, Insightful)
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But does the 'viable' alternative come with 25GB mailboxes backed by an SLA? Didn't think so.
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Google Apps Premier, one of the less expensive ($50/employee/yr. vs. $72/employee/year for Microsoft's offering) viable alternatives, does, in fact, come with 25GB mailboxes per user backed by a SLA with a three 9s uptime guarantee and 24/7 technical support.
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In short, SLAs are indicativ
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Yeah, it's called Open Office. Base does the same thing.
Kinda wishing there was a "-1, Completely False" mod right now. OpenOffice Base doesn't even come remotely close to replacing Access.
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For what I used Access for, Base is fine. Not too good for converting existing Access files, mind you, but it works quite well for what I use it for, and I'd imagine that a bit of the population has the same situation.
You used it, and it didn't do the things it needed? Great, don't use it. That doesn't mean others can't use it to their satisfaction.
I'd say
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For people starting with nothing any office product will work. If you already have files from application , it is often better to stay with that application then switch. If you can justify the cost of the switch, then do it. If you cannot, then do not.
I use open office at home, and install it for most people that ask for office. Does it work for them yes. Then again these are not people with hundreds or thousands of files from a different office application. Have I been burned by this? Yes. When docx, xlsx,
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Go google "sunk cost".
Then you will realize why you are spouting nonsense.
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Oddly enough I don't know anyone who uses VBA.
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Lucky you.
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Yeah I don't get it.
Open Office is fine for some stuff but when it chokes on VBA most business aren't going to adopt it.
Our company (despite the objections of many) tried and it was a nightmare. Lots of excel docs for reports all had to be redone, sometimes finding a replacement functionality was difficult or time consuming. Later the company realized that many of our partners continued to use MS Office w/ xlsm files. Ooops. We had to start saying "please send it without VBA macros". Some did, most did
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It's never going to be better.
Seriously.
If Oracle were to put together a team of absolute superstars - I mean real development gurus - and head them up with the best project manager they can find - and give them just one task - "Make OpenOffice import and export seamlessly to Microsoft Office formats, including all scripting and macros", it still wouldn't be better.
For one, Microsoft would suddenly start to find patents they could sue Oracle for infringing.
For another, the next version of Office would chang
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My mother works as a translator as she still gets .doc files all the time. Microsoft can introduce all they want, but for better or worse they have to keep compatibility with their previous versions, or nobody would upgrade.
Go ahead, attack the people who attack MS (Score:2)
Beatings will continue until morale improves (Score:2)
In other words: If you don't like something, please shut your mouth and don't say anything, particularly in, you know, a website explicitly designed for discussion. Have I got it right?
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In case you're not really an idiot, I'll spell it out for you:
We're the ones who get stuck supporting users of these apps.
We're the ones who get stuck building/maintaining apps/infrastructure written against them.
We're generally NOT the ones who get to decide what the team's/division's/firm's platform and standard apps will be.
NOW do you get it?
Yes. You're bitter at your station in life and would like to blame someone else for it.
Work hard and move into management or a more valued technical position where you get a real voice in those decisions, or quit your bitching.
It's not a software company's fault that your employer doesn't care what you think.
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No, really ....do you actually believe that?
Do you also believe that all you have to do is start a business, work hard, and you too can be rich?
I believe it's more likely to produce success than anonymous whining on the internet.
Smart people who work hard eventually have a voice in the decisions that affect their jobs. Not always, and not immediately, but that's generally what happens.
If it doesn't for you, you might not be as smart or as valuable as you like to think you are. In that case your options are to find a different job where you're valued more appropriately, or come to terms with being the ultimately replaceable cog in a grander machin
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They have a version for free, like Google Docs. And like google docs, they have a pay for version. There's just a bigger distinction between the two (Microsoft's marketing department is the worse in the industry).
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You don't, but businesses will.
From TFA:
Google offers its hosted Google Docs and Gmail for free to consumers, and many small businesses use the free services. Google also sells a business version, known as Google Apps, for $50 per user per year.
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The version of Google Apps (Google Apps Premier) that is tied to your companies domain, allows more than 50 users from your organization, and comes with an uptime guarantee and 24/7 technical support, etc., etc., etc. is also not for free.
Its also less expensive for Microsoft's offering.
Businesses -- though some small businesses get buy with the free organiz
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Google Apps Premier already exists. This is just Microsoft offering a more expensive alternative.
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OpenOffice has a web based document management system? Since when? Is it like sharepoint?
In all seriousness (well seriously I didn't know OO had a web system of any kind), this has more to do with Microsoft's next big frontier: running your company's IT for you.
They don't want to sell you software, they want to sell you their software and hosting for that software. No longer will you own and manage an exchange server, file server, domain server etc... Microsoft will just give you a MS Bridge 2012 which