Microsoft (MSFT) will allow people and companies that license it office software to put documents online so that they can be accessed from multiple computers and shared by people who want to read or edit them. The documents will sit on servers instead of one PC’s hard drive. The new program will make it much easier to gain access to them from multiple locations.
The move seems to be a baby step. Google (GOOG) offers its Apps software online today. It has document, spreadsheet and presentation software on it package.
But, looking at Apps, Microsoft Office has little to fear. The number of features offered by Office is still a multiple of Google’s product. And, Office is already running on most of the world’s PCs being used by business.
Microsoft is often viewed as being slow. But, with business software, it is Google that is doing the catching up.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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