With Web 2.0 actuality the acerbity that it is, Web-based abundance software from the brand of Google, Zoho, and WebEx appears to be accepting all the fizz while Microsoft which has so far eschewed the abstraction of a Web-based offering. But if Microsoft's Office Live Workspace, the beta affairs of which opens today, is any indicator of Microsoft's accommodation to accord with the aggression of Web competitors, everybody from Microsoft's followers to Wall Street can blow assured that the Redmond-based aggregation is not about to get bent with its pants bottomward the way it did in the mid-1990s aback it was affected to regroup afterwards actuality blind-sided by the Web.
Attached to this blog is a video of a affirmation of Office Live Workspace (OLW) accustomed to me by one of the admiral on the Microsoft Office team, Kirk Gregersen. For those of you who aloof appetite to listen, we've bare the audio off the video and fabricated that accessible as a podcast that can be heard by acute comedy on the podcast amateur above. Or, you can download the MP3 through the player's menu. If you're subscribed to ZDNet's IT Matters alternation of podcasts (see how to subscribe), the audio should automatically get downloaded to your PC, MP3, or both depending on how you accept your podcatcher setup.
The audience was accustomed to me aftermost ages (November 2007) and I've been embargoed from discussing any of what I saw then, until now. As you can see from the demo, OLW is primarily advised to use the Web as a aggregate workspace through which bodies coact on Microsoft Office-based documents. Much the aforementioned way the accepted archetype of Google Apps is free, OLW, which includes 500MB of chargeless storage, will be accessible to users for free. Though they may not get to booty abounding advantage of all that OLW has to offer, users charge not accept a archetype of Microsoft Office to admit and use an Office Live Workspace. Microsoft affairs to abutment the account with announcement and no affairs abide yet to action an ad-free adaptation for a fee. Gregersen told me that the aggregation would accede such an alms if abundant barter requested it.
Office Live Workspace is best absolutely not a Web-based abundance apartment like what Google offers in Google Apps. That said, amid a failing Web-based chat processor that includes best of the basal formatting controls (boldface, underline, argument justification, indentation, fonts and book sizing) for autograph and accommodating on what Microsoft refers to as "notes" (see angel below) and a account maker that's as abutting to actuality a spreadsheet after absolutely actuality a spreadsheet (it doesn't do calculations, formulas, or macros), it's bright that Microsoft is absolutely alone a few curve of cipher abroad (code that's apparently already finished, but not activated yet) from alms a absolutely Web-based apartment of its own (continued below)
The actuality that Microsoft isn't yet alms the basal chip apartment (word processing, spreadsheet, presentations, email) online, if you ask me, is a amount of best added than it is any disability to aftermath such an offering. While Google Apps, Zoho, WebEx and others get all the absorption in the press, the accuracy is that Microsoft can allow to wait. Its Microsoft Office authorization has such a behemothic all-around brand that the company's beancounters will apparently apperceive continued afore anybody abroad does aback and if the advance starts alive abroad from desktop software to article added forth the curve of Webware. Should that day arise (I anticipate it will), anybody who doubts whether Microsoft will be accessible with an access is aloof bluffing themselves. For now, the aggregation is agreeable to action OLW as, what Gregersen called, "an extension" to Microsoft Office.
This isn't the aboriginal time Microsoft has offered a Web-accessible technology so that users of Microsoft Office could added calmly coact over documents. Microsoft's SharePoint has been about for a while and again there is (or was) of advance Groove, the aggregation that Microsoft acquired from Ray Ozzie (now one of Microsoft's top execs). In abounding respects, some of OLW's fundamentals are the aforementioned as those of SharePoint. For example, from aural Microsoft Office, users can check-out abstracts (Word, Excel, etc.) from the aggregate workspace for alteration at which point others charge delay until that archetype is arrested back-in afore they can adapt it. Abstracts can be edited offline and, aback loaded aback into a workspace, OLW will attack to boldness adamantine and bendable conflicts (a affection I haven't activated yet). Whereas SharePoint is a band-aid that you charge host yourself on your own servers (or that addition abroad can host for you), Microsoft is the host of OLW, and its free. No Windows Servers are required.
Microsoft Office abstracts can be opened anon from Office Live Workspace and adored aback to it aloof the aforementioned way you ability save an Office certificate to your adamantine drive. Although the agnate of a constituent was appropriate to get it alive on our analysis PC, the actuality that we were ambidextrous with the Web instead of our adamantine drive as a filesystem was seamless and cellophane to us. OLW supports versions of Microsoft Office activity aback to Office XP.
Today, although any certificate blazon (including images and music) can be stored in a OLW-based workspace, you cannot bung third affair certificate types that crave added abundance software (eg: Corel's WordPerfect, OpenOffice.org, etc.) into the band-aid and get the aforementioned seamless operation with them as you do with Microsoft Office-based abstracts and Microsoft Office. Like wikis (which can clue any accustomed certificate aback to its aboriginal version), OLW keeps clue of antecedent versions of a document. Clashing wikis, OLW's "previous version" affection alone goes aback bristles versions. Gregersen told me that Microsoft would be accommodating to change this if abundant barter said it bare to go added back.
If you've played about with Google Apps at all, you'll see a lot of similarities in how the two (Google Apps, OLW) adapt documents. Entire workspaces can be aggregate with others of your choosing. Or, if you appetite you, you can allotment specific abstracts with specific people. Like Google Apps, abstracts can be arise to a URL for bearding examination on the Web. But, additionally like Google Apps, all bearding admirers can do is appearance such a document. In both cases (Google Apps or OLW), alteration requires users to log into the casework which in about-face crave users to authorize IDs (with Google or Microsoft). A Windows Live ID is a prerequisite to accepting into (or establishing) an Office Live Workspace but a Microsoft-based e-mail (eg: Hotmail) is not a prerequisite to accepting a Windows Live ID. Your e-mail abode can be in any domain. Not accessible yet to OLW users is the abstraction of a breadth aggressive ambience (like what Google Apps has). For example, breadth the capital URL to ability your abstracts is article like http://documents.YourDomainName.com.
In a bit of a wizard-like way, Microsoft has templates for altered types of workspaces to advice bodies get started. For example, borrowing from Office, OLW has templates for a chic workspace (for acceptance that ability be alive together), an accident workspace (that includes invitations, flyers, accident planning lists, attendee lists, agenda, etc.), a domiciliary workspace (includes ancestors agitation lists, acquaintance lists, account budgets, etc), job chase workspace, (contact list, resume template, etc), a affair workspace, a activity workspace, etc.
Lists in an OLW-based workspace (lists that can be edited anon online) aren't aloof your accustomed accustomed lists. Reminiscent of Jotspot's aboriginal canicule (Jotspot, which was eventually acquired by Google, had spreadsheet-oriented lists), not alone do OLW lists accept some spreadsheet qualities (they are organized into rows and columns), they can be edited appropriate aural the Web browser and, clashing addendum created with OLW's Web-based notetaking affection (other than artful and pasting, addendum can't be exported), lists can be exported to spreadsheets. "Cells" (Gregersen doesn't accredit to them as this) can be formatted in a array of ways: numbers, distinct band of text, assorted curve of text, yes/no (a boolean field), and date.
Also, aloof like spreadsheets, columns can be sorted according to ascendance or bottomward order. As Gregersen shows in the video, OLW columns will comedy an evolving cycle for collaborators through their affiliation with Outlook. For example, if a shared-list in an Office Live Workspace is a acquaintance list, Microsoft Outlook can use that account as one of its abode books (Wow!, this is cool!). Longer term, it isn't adamantine to brainstorm these lists arena added absorbing rolls (in agreement of Outlook integration). For example, conceivably they could abode abstracts that goes with an Outlook form.
Not alone is a archetype of Microsoft Office not appropriate to appearance a document, it's not appropriate to animadversion on a certificate either. Both can be done via the Web. Admirers for archetype who ability accept to log into an OLW workspace from an airport Web kiosk that doesn't accept Microsoft Office installed can appearance a certificate stored in an OLW workspace and accomplish comments on it after anytime accepting to adjure Microsoft Office itself. We gave this affection a try in Firefox (attempting to challenge the actuality that a abundant abounding kiosks ability not accept Windows or Internet Explorer) and it worked.
If there's one breadth area Microsoft has some arena to awning aback it comes to accommodating on documents, it has to do with breadth OLW is about to Google Apps. In Google Apps, accord is so baked-in to the application's DNA that aback I'm alteration a document, those edits artlessly arise on the awning of added bodies who ability be alteration or examination it. Here, Microsoft's bequest is absolutely evident. In the Microsoft world, you basically appoint in screen-sharing through a downloaded allotment of software that makes me anticipate of Microsoft's NetMeeting. Whereas annihilation appropriate is appropriate with Google Apps for a agglomeration of bodies to be able see the changes in abreast real-time (just a browser is appropriate and anybody can accomplish those changes at any time), Microsoft requires what is about a constituent breadth ascendancy is anesthetized about to people, anniversary of which, aback they get control, can accomplish changes while others attending on.
Whereas Google's access to this array of accord drives like a platform-independent Ferrari, Microsoft's is still the aforementioned old Edsel. Microsoft will of advance altercate that there's a big aberration amid real-time accumulation alteration of Microsoft Office-based abstracts (using Microsoft Office) and that of Google Apps-based documents. Office-based abstracts are far added able-bodied than abstracts based on Google Apps' Web-based editors. Even so, the addendum and lists functionality offered by OLW as Web-based accoutrement could accept the aforementioned array of collaborative abilities that Google's Docs and Spreadsheets have, but don't. Accord it time. The two will eventually accommodated in the average and the shortcomings in either case are not dealbreakers for their advised audiences.
It's still actual aboriginal to acquaint (and actual aboriginal in OLW's beta program). But if your catechism is, is Office Live Workspace abundant to accumulate absolute Office users from abrogation to Google Apps?, I'd say, at the actual least, organizations who were because Google Apps will apparently accept to booty a attending at OLW to see if it meets the aggregate of their needs. Whereas accepting the best out of Google Apps (particularly the collaborative parts) array of requires you to go algid turkey on Microsoft Office (if that's what you have), OLW offers an average footfall that will acceptable accord some the best of both worlds they were attractive for.
Make abiding you analysis out the video and animadversion beneath on what you saw.
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