Microsoft office finally going online

In the continuing trend of better late then never, Microsoft is set to unveil more information about their entry into cloud computing office suite at a conference today.

So what does this mean for you?  Not much really.  It means that they will be offering some of their popular office programs online.  This means that instead of installing a program that can run on your (regardless of if you are connected to the Internet or not) you will have to be connected to the Internet in order to write your documents.  Which in reality isn’t that big of a deal because the vast majority of consumers are connected to the Internet most of the time.

However, what about when you’re on a plane (that doesn’t offer in flight internet access yet) and you need to finish your business proposal?  Good thing you still have old fashioned program installed on your computer.

So, what is the benefit?  Benefits include better ability to share your documents and collaboration with others on a project.  Will they charge for it or offer it for free?  This is to be determined, but if they are smart they’ll allow users a basic version for free.  And if they need to charge, they’ll have a paid professional version.

But really, whey would I care?  Well, for the most part you shouldn’t.  Google Docs has been giving this away for years.  And if you’re worried about offline access, Open Office by Sun Micro systems (Java people) have their open office suite that you can download for free.

So, why pay for it when you can get it legally for free?