MS Planning Free Web-Based Business Software

nieske writes "In response to Google Apps for Your Domain, Microsoft is also planning to release free web-based business software. The software will be ad-supported, but a paid, ad-free version will also be available. From the article: 'Revenue from software licenses for Office and the Windows operating system accounts for a bulk of Microsoft revenues. The challenge for Microsoft will be to make sure a free or, possibly, a subscription-supported version of Works won't hurt sales of its dominant Office software, which accounted for a quarter of the company's $44 billion in sales last year.' Would you choose an ad-supported online version of Microsoft Office over other free options like OpenOffice or Google Apps for Your Domain?"

Spin Alert! /. Title is Misleading

[eldavojohn]

Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday it may offer a free, advertising-supported version of its basic word processing and spreadsheet software, in an apparent bid to fend off a nascent challenge from Google Inc. in the business software market.

Microsoft is not "planning" this. The title of TFA is "Microsoft mulls free Web-based business software." The definition of 'mull' is "to consider at length." Nowhere does it say this is for sure or that they are planning it. They are considering it. There is a difference. They are trying to figure out if it would be feasible to port MS Works to be accessible over the web generating revenue through in product advertising.

Maybe they'll decide to work on this. Maybe they'll decide the market is too crowded already. Right now, it's all up in the air -- I have found no sources claiming they are already planning it.

Re:Yes. I would choose MS over the others.

[XenoPhage]

But they're mulling a web version of Works, not Office.

Have you looked at all at OpenOffice? I thought we did some pretty wierd stuff here that OO wouldn't be able to support, but as it happens, every file opened perfectly in OO and was just as useable..

Submitter hosed the story with a false choice

[Anonymous Coward]

Would you choose an ad-supported online version of Microsoft Office over other free options like OpenOffice or Google Apps for Your Domain?

They're not even considering this!

They're considering a version of Works, which, as anyone who has used it knows, is a middle-school level of Office, at best.

If they actually do this, they'll look like hopeless noobs to anyone who compares their offering to Google's.