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So is it happening! MS Office is Dead!
Steve Gillmor of Gillmor Gang (he also has a Gillmore daily) is probably the biggest believer in web 2.0 and web apps as being the future of computing. He would host a Microsoft developer and say it on his face: “MS Office is dead”! Steve would always support his argument with examples like writely. I would add NumSum and gOffice, maybe also Kiko.
Today TechCrunch has an exclusive coverage by Nik Cubrilovic on Salesforce business mashups. AppExchange is the application platform of Salesforce, which includes a large number of application. Of course, it includes applications that can talk to your Outlook and other standard known applications. But the news today is that writely has been included within the AppExchange platform! Other applications that were added include Adobe online PDF generator (which I recall works only for US users), Skype and Google Maps.
So is it really happening! Is MS Office going to die soon, or basically dead by now! Of course, we have Office 12 on the way. I have seen Office 12, and it looks much better. They basically gave it a fabulous facelift. But the significance of Salesforce adopting writely is that the best arguments against people who believe MS Office is dead are to corporate users being not so sure about putting their work online. Well, now with Salesforce adopting writely, those arguments may become history. Of course, Salesforce is another example of web apps, which is extremely successful. I would say the information on Salesforce is more sensitive than a .doc files.
Personally, I would still prefer using MS Office or any offline app as opposed to something like writely. But if the world becomes more connected to the internet; more wifi access and faster internet, then I would consider the shift.
Related links:
Dabble DB
Rallypoint
Zoho
Form Assembly
Mosuki
Calender Hub (boring name!)
Skobee
zvents
5 Responses to “So is it happening! MS Office is Dead!”
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March 8th, 2006 at 7:27 am
Saying that Office is dead or will die is rediculous, and the thought if it is just wishful thinking out loud.
Whatever the trend is, or will be in desktop or web apps, you can be sure that Microsoft is either on it, or can get on it in no time, and even if they don’t catch up in the beginning, they eventually will, and will end up on top.
Take a look at how MS penetrated into the web with MSN, hotmail, … and most recently virtual earth and MSN spaces, how they got into handheld device OS and now lead that market, and last but not least, what we saw in the game console market.
Microsoft Office as we know it will definately change, and in turn drive other changes around it. They already have working betas for Office Live which will include a free package once released.
p.s. Beating MS Office takes more than just online calendars that bring nothing new other than using Ajax (which doesnt even work in some of them).
March 9th, 2006 at 7:04 am
I do agree with you. MS is there to stay for a long time to come, and yes MS office is not dead, it is an eye-catcher, innit! I eat and drink excel, powerpoint and word everyday, and it keeps me in shape!
But as the world converges to the web, MS will see new competitors. Google and Yahoo! may become more relevant to the competition. This is basically saying that gap between desktop and web is narrowing. But the web market brings with it new kinds of economies. While on the desktop market, MS can make 80¢ on $1, it will have to live with new margins of 20¢ on $1 on the web. This transition will be tough. On the other hand, companies like Google and Yahoo! depend on advertising and are more oriented with web economies (but also maybe not, hear this podcast if you want a different prospective).
The rumour today is that Google is talking to Writely.
March 9th, 2006 at 11:54 am
Writely was acquired by Google. Confirmed.
March 9th, 2006 at 11:55 am
A web office suite is nigh…
I’ve been keeping this post in my drafts for quite sometime till rumors are confirmed. Writely has been aqcuired by Google. Earlier on a friend of mine and a co-blogger wrote about the death of MS Office on toot’s blog. While I disagree wit…
March 10th, 2006 at 11:06 am
Google’s acquisition of Writely will more affect the smaller players, but not Microsoft.
This whole charade of acquisitions is starting to look like when the .com bubble first started. And it does look like we will be seeing a Bubble 2.0 burst.
I think most of these acquisitions are just a reaction to the hype, and not part of any solid strategy to drive revenue.
In the end of it all, we know a bullbe is forming and it wil pop just liek it did before. the question is, who can afford to lose more and still dominate after the smoke clears?