Seattle: Software giant Microsoft has launched Office 365, the online version of its popular office suit. The new service, called Office 365, is now available as a test 13 countries, and will be on sale on a subscription basis worldwide next year. Office 365 will bring together Web-based versions of Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Lync Online and Exchange Online.
"Office 365 is the best of everything we know about productivity, all in a single cloud service," said Kurt Delbene, President of Microsoft's Office Division. "With Office 365, your local bakery can get enterprise-caliber software and services for the first time, while a multinational pharmaceutical company can reduce costs and more easily stay current with the latest innovations," he added.
Combining some of Microsoft's existing cloud-based services, it will be available through most browsers, including Mozilla's Firefox, Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome, and can be used on mobile devices such as Research in Motions BlackBerry and Apple's iPad. With this customers will be able to access to Office programs like Outlook e-mail, SharePoint websites and simplified versions of Word and Excel without installing software, from virtually anywhere.
The move strikes a blow against rival Google, which has had some success with its Google Apps service, which provides a low-cost, Web-based alternative to Microsoft's traditional Office software for $50 per user per year. Microsoft will offer the service to small companies with fewer than 25 employees for $6 or 5.25 euros per user per month. For larger companies and government organizations, prices will start from $2 per user per month for basic e-mail.
A fuller "professional" version will cost up to $27 per user per month. Office is one of Microsoft's biggest money-earners, alongside its Windows operating system. The unit that makes Office accounted for almost 40 percent of the company's profit last year.
