tag:,2009:/1/tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087- 2009-11-23T19:41:48Z Comments for Screenshots Out for Microsoft Office Live Workspace Movable Type 4.23-en tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087 2007-10-17T21:34:27Z 2007-12-16T23:08:13Z Screenshots Out for Microsoft Office Live Workspace digg_url = 'http://digg.com/tech_news/Screenshots_Out_for_Microsoft_Office_Live_Workspace'; digg_bgcolor = '#ffffff'; digg_skin = 'compact'; Microsoft has been sharing with bloggers today some screenshots of the forthcoming Microsoft Office Live Workspace. The company made its most recent major announcement about the online collaboration suite that integrates with Office at the end of last month. Interested users can now pre-register for... Marshall Kirkpatrick http://www.readwriteweb.com mslivelogo.jpgMicrosoft has been sharing with bloggers today some screenshots of the forthcoming Microsoft Office Live Workspace. The company made its most recent major announcement about the online collaboration suite that integrates with Office at the end of last month. Interested users can now pre-register for the free service's launch later this year.

Obviously a major challenge to Google Docs and other online office and collaboration tools, Live Workspace looks great to me in these screenshots. I haven't investigated to see if it will be cross-platform compatible but if not I'll fire up Windows just to test it out when released. Richard MacManus wrote at length here about Workspace earlier this month, calling it a "weak me-too offering." I'm not so sure. In case you haven't noticed, Google Docs look, export and print dog-ugly. There's certainly room for competition, as even Adobe signaled with their acquisition of a Buzzword this month.

Screenshots below, click these preview images to view them in beautiful full size.

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]]> tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25007 Comment from drew olanoff on 2007-10-17 drew olanoff http://b.drewolanoff.com amazing that it's so late though. it's their format after-all.

]]> 2007-10-17T22:23:57Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25008 Comment from Marshall Kirkpatrick on 2007-10-17 Marshall Kirkpatrick http://readwriteweb.com Drew - I don't think that's liable to matter much in 6 to 18 months, do you?

]]> 2007-10-17T22:26:19Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25009 Comment from Krish on 2007-10-17 Krish http://www.krishworld.com/blog/ This offering from Microsoft will fail for just one reason. It is not cross platform. I might be surprised if it works on firefox itself. Let us wait and see what they come out with. A web app that is not cross platform is plain stupid as far as I am concerned.

]]> 2007-10-17T23:45:21Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25010 Comment from Sarah Perez on 2007-10-17 Sarah Perez http://www.sarahintampa.com It's Sharepoint without the server & it's awesome!

Krish - I don't think it's trying to be a web app (like Google Docs). Microsoft is doing software + services (software that you own, like Office, plus services, like the online workspace).

If all you need is light word processing and basic spreadsheets, online suites may work for you. Many people still need robust software though, like MS office or OpenOffice.

Oh, and btw, I read that you can store PDFs and pictures here, so I imagine that you could also store OpenOffice documents, too. Might miss some of the "edit with" functionality though.

]]> 2007-10-18T03:16:10Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25011 Comment from Stephane Rodriguez on 2007-10-17 Stephane Rodriguez
In the second screenshot is a preview of a Powerpoint presentation.

Microsoft has historically created an IE-only library called VML to render markup coming from a binary Powerpoint presentations (saved as HTML+VML on the fly on the server for rendering purposes).

If that's what it is, and it's easy to check that out by looking at the HTML source code, then it's indeed IE-only.

If that's not the case, Microsoft has worked hard to create a HTML compatible markup for presentations. That should be commended.

Given Microsoft's history of lock-in, the latter is very unlikely.

I haven't tested the product. Anyone registered can tell us?

]]> 2007-10-18T04:32:37Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25012 Comment from Baris Cetinok on 2007-10-17 Baris Cetinok http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/FX102412601033.aspx#Q6 To answer some of the questions raised regarding cross-platform support:


What are the system requirements?
You only need an Internet connection and a Web browser. Office Live Workspace works with the most commonly used browsers, including:
Internet Explorer 6.0 or later on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista
Firefox 2.0 on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista
Firefox 2.0 on Mac OS X 10.2.x and later

Some features may require a browser that supports ActiveX.

Per Microsoft Office Live Workspace Beta FAQ:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/FX102412601033.aspx#Q6

]]> 2007-10-18T04:45:56Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25013 Comment from Scott on 2007-10-18 Scott Guys....this is not a competition to Google Apps. Its an extension to online storage apps. There is a big difference between these two.

]]> 2007-10-18T07:23:43Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25014 Comment from ScottAG on 2007-10-18 ScottAG http://scott.greiff.org "Some" features may require a browser that supports ActiveX? Where's Safari support? Opera?

Funny, last time I checked Google apps didn't have these limitations.

Also, if you're making a claim that Google apps print like crud, have you seen what the Microsoft equivalents print like? From a browser?

]]> 2007-10-18T13:19:03Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25015 Comment from Amelia on 2007-10-18 Amelia http://www.lovebiker.com This article was also posted on lovebiker.com

]]> 2007-10-18T13:47:15Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25016 Comment from Mike B. on 2007-10-18 Mike B. http://mike.shannonandmike.net This doesn't have anything to do with Google Docs - it's basically an updated SharePoint (which is itself a glorified shared directory).

Not only is it too little, too late - it's too proprietary. Like the Zune it's a desperate, inadequate attempt at imitation.

]]> 2007-10-18T14:12:33Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25017 Comment from Ryan on 2007-10-18 Ryan http://none Sharepoint?? WHAT garbage !!! Easy for Programes but useless programs come out of it!!!

]]> 2007-10-18T14:26:18Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25018 Comment from Sean on 2007-10-18 Sean Sharepoint does exactly what it's supposed to do and does it extremely well. Office live Workspace is going to be great and exactly what my company, and many others, have been waiting for.

]]> 2007-10-18T16:36:12Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25019 Comment from Russ @ bombay potatoes on 2007-10-18 Russ @ bombay potatoes http://bombay-potatoes.com I gotta say this is good stuff from the looks of it but it's not something that even needs to compete with google docs etc.

]]> 2007-10-18T16:50:01Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25020 Comment from David on 2007-10-18 David Cross platform (or lack of) won't stop MS one little bit. This is a fallacy created by non-MS proponents (for the record I am NOT a fan of MS or its products)

Still, MS is squarely aiming at the corporate market, and in these environments you can control user environments much better. If Management has decided to use MS products, you WILL use IE to access it.

Those of us who long for the day that MS has 3 or 4 serious competitors on an equal footing like to think cross platform is a stumbling block for MS, but it's not, and never will be.

Cheers,

David

]]> 2007-10-18T17:28:58Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25021 Comment from kkL on 2007-10-18 kkL OMG, they had to make all that code work best in IE... I'm so sorry for them :(

]]> 2007-10-18T19:18:18Z tag:72.47.210.69,2007://1.3087-comment:25022 Comment from Eric Monse on 2007-10-18 Eric Monse The bloggers always seem to get the best look first.

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