Microsoft is preparing its next weapon in their ongoing battle with Google with the launch of its flagship product Office 2010. The latest version of the software has a free online component called Office Web Apps. It is believed that this in direct response to Google, with the implementation of their free online tools.
In a bid to draw in customers who are not tied down to one PC, the latest version allows people to access and edit documents from within a web browser. The software for PCs and phones will be launched at an event in New York on 12 May. Business customers will be able to use it straight away, whilst home users will have to wait until June to buy the full version.
Google and Microsoft have increasingly begun to move into each other’s markets. Recently Microsoft has channelled its energy into its search engine Bing, whereas Google is about to launch its own operating system, Chrome OS.
This office software battle started back in 2006 when Google launched the first elements of its Google Docs. Microsoft was then compelled to respond. Google Docs now offers word-processing, spreadsheet software and a presentation tool, amongst others. Businesses can also pay for premium versions. Currently it only has a small share of the market with 4% of the market share, but this is continuing to grow. Microsoft on the other hand dominates the Office software space with more than 94% of the market share, the vast majority of these sales being to businesses.
Whit Andrews, analyst at research firm Gartner, commented that the offerings from the likes of Google are likely to appeal to younger people who have not necessarily grown up with Microsoft products.
“If all your content is generated in the Google apps system and it lives there, you would need to have a really good reason to move,” he told BBC News.
