Microsoft Workspace opens to broader availability
Microsoft is set to announce
general availability of the free online component of Office on Tuesday.
Microsoft Office
Live Workspace, which remains in beta, lets users access and share Office
documents online. It first became available in December when Microsoft opened
a limited beta version of the service.
With the broad availability of Workspace, Microsoft has also rolled out some
updates, which became available late last week. Workspace now features an activity
panel that shows users a stream of activity on the page, including noting files
that have been added or deleted.
Users are now able to upload multiple files at a time. The update also includes
a bit of "polish" on the sharing experience, said Eric Gilmore, a
senior product manager at Microsoft.
For now Workspace is only available in the English languages, but additional
languages will be supported in the future, he said. Despite competition from
Google's Docs and Spreadsheets online offering, Microsoft has ambitious goals
for how many people might use Workspace, as well as the potential for businesses
to use the online service.
According to research
from Compete, as of October last year, Google Docs and Spreadsheets had
an average of just over 1.4 million unique visits per month.
"We think 1.4 million is very small," Gilmore said. Microsoft hopes
that most Office users will also use Workspace, meaning it will be used by many
millions of people. Workspace is one iteration of Microsoft's software-plus-services
strategy, which aims to combine its software products with online services.
Workspace is designed for professionals and consumers who want to access documents
remotely or collaborate with multiple people. It is a simpler version of SharePoint,
the managed software platform from Microsoft for enterprises, but the two could
converge in the future.
For example, if enterprises ask for the capability, Microsoft could enable
workers to share SharePoint sites within Workspace, Gilmore said. If that happened,
Microsoft could also alleviate enterprise security concerns by bringing together
the Active Directory authentication and authorization tool used in SharePoint
with its Live ID online services sign-on process. SharePoint uses Active Directory
and Workspace uses Live ID.
"The fundamental pieces are in place that, over time, could bridge the
gap between Active Directory and Windows Live ID," Gilmore said.
IDG News Service
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