New Microsoft Office Coming with a Twist

Microsoft Office has been a staple for many consumers because of its word processing, spreadsheet creation, designing custom presentations, and other productivity and work-related features. Its Word, Excel, and PowerPoint programs are well known by almost anybody who has had to use a computer. While Microsoft Office 2010 brings much familiarity in its functions along with some new, upgraded features, Microsoft has decided to also release the Office Web Apps version as a response to competitors, particularly Google.

Google Docs, which hit the market four years ago, offered users a way to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Best of all, Google Docs allowed users to perform these tasks for free on a personal basis using its basic platform. Businesses who chose to use Google Docs received more advanced versions of the application at a cost of $50 annually per worker.

Not only does Google's program provide cost benefits, but it also allows for flexibility. Users of Docs can save their documents to a Google server, which makes it accessible to others using the same program on any computer. Docs takes out the extra work involved in transferring data, such as having to email documents from one person to another, saving them to a flash drive and delivering them, and so on. Combine those cost benefits and Google Docs' flexibility, and you have a product that seems as if it could threaten Microsoft's stronghold on the market with its Office suite.

As it currently stands, Microsoft is on solid ground, but that ground could shift in the future. With all of its previous editions combined, Microsoft believes that somewhere in the neighborhood of 500 million consumers are using Office in one way or another, and legally or illegally. Thanks to torrents and other file sharing methods, many have successfully downloaded Office products in the past that were pirated versions of the software. If you take that into account, along with competitors like Google eagerly nipping at their heels, it's safe to say that Microsoft has to adapt.

Luckily, they are, and the addition of the Office Web Apps is evidence. Microsoft plans to outshine Google's Docs with its Office Web Apps by providing a fuller feature set and a visual presentation that is much more intuitive and easier on the eyes. Users shouldn't expect Office Web Apps to match Office 2010 in all of its features, as it will not. Users of the free apps will also have to endure some advertisements, as that is one way that Microsoft can afford to make the program free. Office Web Apps will be interesting to see, however, as it will give users flexibility with their document creation and other tasks by allowing them to access the apps via a web browser, a computer, or a smartphone.

Whether or not Microsoft's Office Web Apps is successful in helping the company retain its place in the technological pecking order remains to be seen. Consumers have a lot to look forward to, though, as the competition will mean that even more advanced and user-friendly products will become available.

For more on this, visit the Seattle Times story.