14 DAY TRIAL // The next version of the Redmond company's flagship products will no longer be confined to the desktop. Despite the fact that both Windows and Office are essentially two desktop-centric solutions, Microsoft cannot afford to ignore the growing trend for applications and services to migrate online. The company itself has managed to make a few hesitant steps in the same direction in an effort to counter exclusive Software as a Service offerings, but at the same time treading lightly in order to deliver only a minimal impact to its desktop business.
Still, with alternatives to both its Windows platform and Office System available online under the SaaS business model, Microsoft is hard at work implementing its own branded strategy with Software plus Services. S+S effectively will mean an intimate connection between Office 14 and Office Live, as well as Windows 7 and Windows Live. This scenario will come into effect the minute the next generation of Windows and Office will hit, with Windows 7 and Office 14, being the successors of Windows Vista and the Office 2007 System.
"On the consumer side, though, our work will be anchored in a few core things. Windows and Office need to embrace the Internet and go live, and we?ve got good efforts underway and in market for both Windows Live and Office Live," commented Microsoft Chief Executive Officer, Steve Ballmer. Present at the Office System Developers Conference 2008 in San Jose, on February 11, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates also referred to the company's need to blend the desktop-based Office System with services in the cloud.
"We're hard at work on a new version of Office, we just call it Office 14 internally, that's the name we use for it. We have a lot of the people from the Office group down for this conference, so a key goal here is not just to tell you about our development platform, but also to hear from you on where you'd like to see us do more, what's complex for you, and make sure as we're doing this next version that we get in the right things so that your creativity can be more efficient, so that you're not finding Office difficult. In fact, you're getting the full benefit of those huge investments that we're making. So we're moving to new UI, we're moving to new ambition, we're moving to this services world, and connecting that up to make it complementary, a lot of important things going on, and I think that creates opportunities both for us and for you in making the Office environment even better," Gates explained.