HUA HIN, Thailand - Microsoft's cash cow is set to get fatter this week as the
software giant rolls out the latest version of its Office productivity suite.
In years that Microsoft does not launch new operating systems, most of the
company's profits come from corporate licensing of Office, which primarily
consists of the familiar applications of Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and
Access amongst other programs.
Office 2010, which hit the shelves on Wednesday, is poised to set a precedence
for the firm, which is eager to thwart rivals such as Google that are leading
the move towards cloud computing. Office has always been a traditional desktop
application where users store documents on their computers. The latest
iteration will offer
a free, limited application, web-based version with storage in the world of
cloud computing.
The traditional Office software suite often costs more than the computer it
runs on, and with Google snapping at its heels with its online Google Docs
services, Microsoft has realized that consumers and corporations are no longer
willing to shell out big bucks for productivity packages. The new software
suite will offer the free web version, which will carry advertising, and a
full-blown desktop version for around US$500. Businesses will be able to
purchase licenses this week while consumers will have to wait until June.
Microsoft Office Web Apps, as it has been termed, will be made available to
over 500 million people already using Microsoft Live services such as Messenger
and Hotmail. Facebook users, of which there are more than 400 million, will
have access to the new services under the name Docs.com. Google has picked up
25 million users since launching its online Docs services four years ago and
accounts for only 4% of businesses.
Office has an estimated 500 million users, with 81% of businesses running the
2007 version of the software, according to industry analyst Forrester.
Microsoft claims that familiarity with its products will be the winning card;
pretty much every PC owner knows how to use Microsoft Word and Excel, although
recent versions such as 2007 have introduced more convoluted navigation
controls called ribbons. Quality is another ace, according to Microsoft, as it
promises "high-fidelity" editing and viewing that is lost on other browser
based applications that lose consistency with document formatting.
Another program called SharePoint 2010 will allow users to set up web sites
enabling them to work together, share documents, and collaborate business
processes regardless of where they physically are in the world. The virtual
office concept is not a new one. This new software, despite the rather
mystifying blurbs on the website, attempts to simplify things for those already
familiar with Microsoft products.
Mobile users will also get a version of Office, which will be available to
download on the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform. Nokia made a deal with Microsoft
last year so there will also be an application allowing access to the Office
Web 2010 suite from Nokia handsets. Web browsers on other mobiles such as
iPhones will also be catered for.
Unlike Google, which is solely intent on selling advertising through its online
productivity services, Microsoft hopes users of the web version will pay for
the desktop version. A company that derives its profits from software sales is
unlikely to make a big push towards total cloud computing; it still wants
people using Windows and Office on their own computers. This compromise with
its most successful product line should keep it in a strong market position for
a few years ... or so it hopes.
Browsers
The next version of Mozilla's Firefox browser, due for release at the end of
the year, will have a strong emphasis on privacy, security and user control. As
browser-based exploits increase at an unprecedented rate, browser producers
such as Mozilla, Microsoft and Google are scrambling to ensure that their
browser is the safest on the market.
Firefox 4 will also have some layout changes; following in Chrome's footsteps,
the new browser will move the tabs to the top above the address bar. Hardware
acceleration and standards compliance including HTML5 and CSS3 will be included
along with more tweaking under the hood to enable even faster page rendering.
Video and multimedia content will be built in without the need for external
plugins such as the often problematic Adobe Flash player.
Microsoft will also be launching Internet Explorer 9 later this year and Google
is constantly tweaking Chrome with a view to making it the cloud-based platform
for its own operating system. Chrome 5 beta was released last week, so the
browser battles are set to continue.
Telecoms
In addition to the browser battles and software skirmishes are mobile melees
where the corporate giants snipe at each other in their ongoing quests for
market dominance. This week it is HTC versus Apple, as the Taiwanese handset
maker responded with a patent complaint after Apple attempted the same thing
back in March.
HTC claims Apple has infringed on five patents and is calling for a ban on
iPhones, iPods and iPads in the US. The patents in question involve power
consumption and functionality, whereas Apple was complaining about touch-screen
patents in what was largely seen as a swipe at Google, whose competing Android
operating system runs on HTC phones.
Nokia is also embroiled in a patent suit. The company with the deepest pockets
is likely to emerge the victor though product bans are unlikely.
Apple has questioned the findings of research firm NPD, which claimed that
Android-powered smartphones accounted for 28% of US sales in the first quarter,
ahead of Apple at 21%. A company spokeswoman said, "We had a record quarter,
with iPhone sales growing by 131%, and with our new iPhone OS 4.0 software
coming this summer, we see no signs of the competition catching up any time
soon."
Google's Android will probably become the dominant force in the smartphone
market for a few elementary reasons, such as being available on a number of
carriers and on many different phones from different manufacturers.
People like choice, so while Apple remains locked into its preferred single
carrier, forcing people to live on planet Apple and commute to planet iTunes
for their software needs, it will continue to lose out to competitors that do
not have those heavy digital chains around their products.
Martin J Young is an Asia Times Online correspondent based in Thailand.
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