

Microsoft Office Comes to the Browser (Finally) - qhoxie
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/microsoft_office_comes_to_browser.php

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jbert
That's interesting. They'll be "comparable" to google docs, which Ballmer
called "pretty primitive" just a couple of weeks ago?

[http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/steve-ballmer-disses-
goo...](http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/10/steve-ballmer-disses-google-apps)

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wayne
That's an interesting find but he's not necessarily being hypocritical or
deceitful. Ballmer could just think that the web apps Microsoft is announcing
today are super awesome compared to Google Docs.

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jbert
When a company playing catchup says "comparable", they generally mean "not
quite as good as".

So it still seems an odd mix of messages to me.

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Flemlord
I find it interesting that Microsoft is using HTML/Ajax instead of
Silverlight. I wonder why.

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inerte
If you believe in Ballmer, they are ready to implode the desktop apps if
people prefer to do it online. They just want to lead this market too.

It's better to have lots of people using your online version and not using the
desktop ones, than lots of people using Google's version and none using your
desktop offers.

Now, if it'll work, that's another story... but if it does, MS will keep being
the market leader.

Perhaps this answer hasn't fully clarified why Ajax and not Silverlight. IMHO
is to allow more stuff to run.

Nowadays is inconceivable a consumer device with network capabilities, screen
and some form of input method to not have a browser. From mobiles to netbooks
and desktops, people who make hardware have to put a browser. Silverlight,
being a different piece of software, would have to be re-coded/compiled to
each of these plataforms.

Besides the extra work required for MS, it's just another layer of difficult
for end-users (installing the plugin). Simply not having this step is better.

But, someone could argue, MS could make vendors, even paying them, to ship
with Silverlight. Or some form of stripped down Windows version, say, CE,
which would bundle Silverlight.

Why not? MS today controls the OS market and the Office app market. But with
so many plataforms, it'll be very, very complicated in the future to control
the OS market. A version of Windows for mobiles, netbooks, desktops, tables,
etc etc etc? IMHO MS knows that the future doesn't look as good as right now
for them on the OS space.

So, they're throwing the towel on the OS market _as a whole_, I mean, for
everything. Of course they'll keep Windows (for desktop), because it's such a
huge cash cow. But they won't be able to control the rest, or at least is not
something that you can bet your revenues on. Would you? I mean, if you were a
MS executive, would you bet that in 2015 90% of the mobiles will be running
Windows CE?

Maybe yes, maybe not. It's easier to just make the online Office stuff, and
try to own its market, because you already do for the offline. MS knows what
business want from their Office offers, so it's on the best position to make
it work for online in the future (Google and Apple lovers: I've said best
position, not that it will).

Anyway, long post. English is not my primary language so I am sorry if the
above wall was hard to parse!

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snowbird122
I've been hearing about this forever. Wake me up when I can use excel in my
browser.

