Office for Rent
We've been talking a lot about Microsoft's challenges in Web services. This
is an area we explore in our recent
Redmond
magazine cover story where we conclude that on the enterprise side, Microsoft
has done a fine job turning server-bound tools like Exchange into software services.
We saw less progress on the consumer side -- the space where Google happily
resides.
Part of Microsoft's strategy is called Software Plus Services. The idea is
to take regular old hard drive applications and enhance them with a few Web
goodies. This is the exact approach taken by Equipt,
formerly called Project Albany.
Aimed largely at consumers, customers get a license to a low-end version of
Office for three machines and Web-based security including antivirus through
OneCare. Microsoft is also tossing in a bunch of Office Live services which,
as far as I can tell, are already
free.
Posted by Doug Barney on July 09, 2008