Silverlight or Flash? (Likely not, because they would support basically every browser, then.)
"Classic" AJAX?
Some special plug-in?

I fear that it will be the latter - a browser-plug-in that's tied to Office, likely requiring a full MS Office license.

I think it will be Ajax based and it won't require any office suites to be installed because you can already achieve the same thing with Office Live Workspace if you have Office installed.

Michael

I'm very happy with google, thanks.

Google Apps are...nice enough. Not great but ok. Unless they totally change their DNA, Google will never offer PC client versions of Google Apps so it's 'hosted by Google of the highway.' For the first time since I can remember, Microsoft is in a position to say they offer greater choice than their competitors. Their customers will be able to run Office on the PC or Mac and/or Office on the Web. Most will probably pick both depending on the situation. In my mind this is a pretty clear indication that Microsoft's ambitiouis goals around PC software AND Web software is the right strategy. Those arguing for a Web-only world will find themselves marginalized, offering their customers fewer choices and ultimately less compelling experiences for users.

Ask any CIO or technology decision maker at a mid sized or larger company and they'll tell you that it will be a cold day in hell before they move to a totally Web-based platform for word processing and spreadsheets etc. But ask them if they'd like a choice of PC/Mac-based software AND Web-based versions and they'll smile. I'd like to see Google compete with that.

To Sucks, they demoed it today in Firefox and said it will work in Safari. Suck on that. ;)

I would guess that there will be ad funded versions on OfficeLive.com and paid/hosted versions for companies. Not altogether different than what they're doing with mail...Exchange Online for businsses who want things like Active Directory integration and SLA's and Windows Live Mail/Hotmail for people who don't need that.

Check this: youtube.com/googleapps

Plenty of CEOs talking about what you're refering...

"they demoed it today in Firefox"

As I wrote on LifeHacker it's important to say that this is in SilverLight (a Microsoft browser plugin) so although it "works in Firefox" it also works in Netscape 3 because it doesn't really use the browser as anything other than a container for the fullscreen SilverLight plugin (it's like fullscreen Flash).

Like any plugin it'll only work if the underlying platform supports it (Eg, Windows, Linux, OSX) and the lack of integration means the same plugin problems of Flash (inability to bookmark, scrape, extend via plugins, etc.) apply here.

SilverLight is heavily patented and the only non-Microsoft version (called MoonLight, from Novell) has been done with a Microsoft patent agreement. So this software isn't part of the Open Web, it's not Open Standards, it is proprietary.

SilverLight apps on OSX and Linux are typically second-class citizens to SilverLight on Windows. Until we see real compatibility tests across platforms I wouldn't consider this as more than a Windows application with web installation.

By the way, my post his shouldn't be read as a negative or positive comment on the quality of this Office software, I'm only meaning to describe what kind of software it is.

There were no surprises re:

* Technology - Office Web uses Silverlight
* Delivery model - you need Sharepoint or Office Live Workspace to host the service
* Pricing - it is available as a hosted subscription service or through existing volume licensing agreements

Who decided clouds are the next big thing? I think they're wasting their time.

I'd like to know where you've found information saying that Silverlight is a second class citizen on OSX. Moonlight, ok, maybe, but as I understood it Silverlight should run the exact same on OSX Safari as it does in Windows IE. I've even seen demos where they debug silverlight in safari running on a mac, from a windows box.

From your blog, I see made a competing product called Docvert. I see a long negative discourse about the flaws of Open XML at least partly based on highly dubious gossip.

Do you have some special bias perhaps in criticising here?

You're wrong saying that Silverlight (lowercase L, plz) is a second class citizen on MacOSX. Microsoft delivers and supports Silverlight 2 on various flavors of Windows and also on MacOS X and guarantees the same behavior an d comparable performance on both platform.

Though you're right that it's a different story for Linux et all, as genuine Silverlight coming from Microsoft will never happen on those platforms. But instead, one has to know that Microsoft and Novell have concluded last year in September '07 a Technology Collaboration agreement by which Microsoft provides help, support and specs to the Moonlight team project, with the goal that they procude a 100% compatible version for non Windows and non Mac OSX versions.

As someone previously asked if you have biaised view, I think it's worth mentionning that I work for Microsoft, and I'm not from the product group, just a guy in the field.

So, rather than "bias" my opinions are based on years of C# development... mostly with an ASP.Net frontend, although a little XAML and more modern widgets and frameworks like Silverlight (little 'L' this time, thanks Christophe Lauer!). Silverlight is typically a second-class citizen on OSX and Linux. While we apparently disagree about OSX vs Linux and the features that typical SilverLight apps use it's good to hear that we're discussing the differences between Silverlight on different platforms and how features on one don't necessarily work on another. This should be evaluated rather than assumed.

As I said I'm not making a comment on the positive or negative quality of this Office software (of course I couldn't, it's unreleased) but I was instead talking to the idea that it was based on a browser plugin, much like Adobe Flash, with similar problems about standards and competition. We don't have companies competing on their standards-based implement of Silverlight like we do with HTML, JavaScript, and CSS, and this is because it's not open or standards-based.

Microsoft are of course welcome to do what they want with their platform but I think that most people understand that these Silverlight apps aren't much different to Windows-only apps and I earnestly hope that Microsoft will allow more competition in their Silverlight platform :)

Microsoft have promised Linux support right there, in black-and-white - "regardless of target platform" - so shame on everyone who doubts them, especially the MS employees.

In your last post, you also said that you think that Microsoft 'should allow more competition' in the Silverlight space. I am a bit curious what kind of competition you'd like to see. I don't see a need for another company to come in and create a Silverlight browser control (there's no money in it for them). In theory, a new company could compete with Microsoft in the IDE/Design tools market in much the same way that companies compete over their Java IDEs.

Checkout what these guy did with Flex for Free Digital Signage at http://www.MediaSignage.com

www.online-anonymity.kr.tc

Storing content online is the easy part and arguably the most important part. Modifying the content is all about the interface/GUI. That is what we're talking about here: using a browser OR using a desktop app to edit your online content.

Right now, few browser apps give the rich interface of desktop apps. Sure, there are some brilliant online apps, no doubt, and they do simple things well. But for a full Office setup there is no online counterpart to MSOffice or OpenOffice as your interface to your content.

What if we remove the need to choose between a) keeping your files locally and editing them with feature-rich desktop apps, or b) moving your files online and being feature-limited by browser-based editing? What if you could move all your stuff into the cloud and yet keep editing that content with your desktop apps?

You can. It's called Dropbox, http://getdropbox.com/

Dropbox works flawlessly on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It's a small native client that syncs your online content with your offline content, and it does it cleverly (delta diffs). You continue to use all your favourite local apps and in the background all your file changes silently and speedily sync to the cloud... across ALL of your PCs.

Oh, your laptop blew up? All your critical files on there and now the harddrive is toast? Buy a new one, reinstall the dropbox client, and almost immediately your critical files are pulled back down from the cloud onto your drive.

I do not work for Dropbox or have any affiliation. I simply LOVE it because it happily plants its flag in both camps: all the benefits of storing your data in the Cloud and all the benefits of continuing to edit your data with your local feature-rich applications.

And you're not tied into Microsoft, Windows, Linux or any one platform or application (provided you use well supported file formats).

Oh, and did I mention you get 2gigs free storage with Dropbox?

Worried about Dropbox disappearing overnight with all your content? No need. I could take an axe to Dropbox's servers right now, chop them up into metal sushi, and you'd still have all your files... because the latest versions of those files are still sitting on your local PC!

Sorry to rave maniacally about this, but it's a solution that works great for me until a better solution comes along.

Just show me where I can download Silverlight for Linux (note *not* Moonlight) from the Microsoft website. Send me the link and I'll happily give it a try.

Otherwise, please wake up and get a clue. Silverlight is an MS ONLY technology. Just like Windows and Office. I can get MS Office for Mac, just like I can get Silverlight. For now.

There is nothing wrong with people using the Office/Silverlight combination. Just as long as they understand they are still tied to an MS platform.

What is missing from this announcement are two things:

(1) An offline version of Silverlight - similar to Adobe's AIR. I can write a Flex app and have it run (using AIR) in a disconnected mode. Can't do that yet for Silverlight. This will stymie corporate adoption of web-based Office apps.

(2) An ad-supported pricing model. MS paid alot for aQuantive, one of the largest ad serving networks in the world. How about some business unit synergy???

http://on10.net/blogs/sarahintampa/Microsoft-Office-Web-Applications-Your-Burning-Questions-Answered/