Microsoft Announces “Office 365” – A “Cloud Computing” Office

OK, this is weird. Just last night, my wife, Belinda, and I were talking about a Microsoft commercial where a “housewife” says “my kids never look right in family photos, I gonna take this to the ‘cloud’!” Riiiight! I asked Belinda, “What ‘normal’ housewife knows about the ‘cloud!?!?'” But, soon, maybe they will! Looks like it ties into what Microsoft is doing overall! Taking more of their software, and taking it “to the cloud!”

Microsoft Announces Cloud-based Office 365

“Two biggest and most profitable products that Microsoft offers are Office and the Windows operating system. The company has announced this week that it is set to start testing a new cloud-based online version of Office that will battle directly against Google Docs in the business market for productivity software.

The new service is called Office 365 and Microsoft says that the new offering makes it easy for workers and users anywhere to access Office productivity solutions and more from virtually any device on virtually any browser. Office 365 is launching in a limited beta program in 13 countries with various organizations soon.

Office 365 will work on devices like smartphones and the iPad reports Reuters. Reuters also notes that Office 365 supports not only IE but Firefox, Chrome, and Safari browsers as well. Microsoft says the new software offering was developed based on close work with existing customers.

‘Office 365 is the best of everything we know about productivity, all in a single cloud service,’ said Kurt DelBene, president of the Office Division at Microsoft. ‘With Office 365, your local bakery can get enterprise-caliber software and services for the first time, while a multinational pharmaceutical company can reduce costs and more easily stay current with the latest innovations. People can focus on their business, while we and our partners take care of the technology.'”