Office 14: Bringing Microsoft Office Online?

Few years back (that’s around 2005, if I am not mistaken), we heard about Office 12 and made a buzz in the office suite industry since, of course, it’s from Microsoft? Partly, I suppose, but it is due to the many advanced features it has and most noticeably its new user interface. Well, that was (again) few years back.

As the trend today, most applications are going web-based, commonly labeled as SaaS (Software as a Service), Microsoft also aims to bring their Office suite online but limited.

Bill Gates, the ever rich and ever famous man, delivered a speech during the last Microsoft Office System Developer Conference in San Jose, said something like this:

“Outlook Web Access is not the full version of Office, but if you want to go into a kiosk or an Internet cafe and browse and connect, it gives you plenty of functionality. As we look at all the modules [in Office 14] we have in mind the equivalent of Outlook Web Access.” [ source ]

Well, I guess Gates sees the tight competition with the current key players of the online office suite arena (Google Apps, Zoho Online, etc.) and will try to rule it out with this move. Appropriate as it may seem and let us just hope that it will be a of quality and of course cheap, yet better if free, online applications.

*Image Credit due to Stephen Chapman at Aero Experience. 

By the way, Office 14 is said to be shipping in the early 2009. Betas will be released late this year 2008.

So, basically, Office 14 will be the updated version of Office 2007 (after 2 years hopefully). And for more in-depth FAQs about Office 14, please click here and here.