Clearly, Micrsoft are more worried about Google than I thought. As well as throwing money about in an attempt to buy Yahoo, I heard a leak of a rumour that they are going to take on Google Docs directly by making Office available as a web application. Apparently it will use something known as Locally Originated - Online Formatting technology (LOOF) to deliver almost all the power of Office but through the web rather than a locally installed application.
At first I couldn't see how Microsofft hoped to make money out of this venture and it seemed unlikely that it would be doing it purely out the goodness of its heart. Apparently though, it has developed a new form of online advertising that it calls Limited Impact Rapid Photo Advertising (LIRPA). To me, this sounds a bit like subliminal advertising but the Miicrosoft people seem very confident that it is all legal and above board.
I like Google Docs, but a full Office suite online, made freely available from Microsft, sounds very interesting and I'd like to see it in action. At the moment both LOOF and LIRPA are untried technologies but the leak of the rumour I saw seemed confident that they did the job required.
What do you think? Do you want to see Office made freely available on line? Are you interested in learning more about LOOF and LIRPA? Let me know what you think.
Technorati Tags: LOOF, LIRPA, Office, Web Application, Web 2.0, DavidDMuir, EdCompBlog
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2 comments:
What I love is the part you didn't mention: that there'll be a Linux spin-out, too. Great stuff, isn't it, to finally see Microsoft diversifying. ;-)
Hello Ewan
There were so many parts I didn't mention. :-)
Thanks for joining in.
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