I doubt very much if Microsoft will take this lightly. I mean, looking through the Live Documents site, I'd swear I was on a microsoft site. They even go far as to make use of the "Services + Software" montra that Redmond has been using these past months.

They're just asking for MS to buy them....

Shane, Moncton,

Why should microsoft bother developing online software -

It's a highly competitive marketplace, with low barriers to entry, and in an arena where hype, branding and good fortune can often play as much of a part in success as technical proficiency.

Better for them to wait, see who succeeds, and then buy them out & put in place their hoards of developers.

Mark, Woking, UK

MS Office is the nest egg of MS. ANything that can bring this down will only prove good for the computer industry in the long run.

Everyone should boycott MS and its extorionate liscences especially when free laternatives exist.

ibbo, Leeds,

Crowded office indeed - Zoho and ThinkFree are blazing aheard already.

TB, Chesham, UK

g.r.r.: I don't care if it's innovative. You don't have to be first to market to be the best in the market (e.g. iPod). If this online offering really matches the functionality of MS Office 2007, it is far better than anything Google is offering currently. That *is* a big deal, even if it is not "innovative" in the sense of an entirely new product category.

Andrew James Riemer, Winsted, Minnesota USA

i don't see how this can be news, it is just some guy who got paid for hotmail, then has seen what many others have done (i.e. Zoho, GoogleDocs etc, and Buzzword from Adobe). So we can applaud him for being very good at PR, but maybe if he actually showed the world some screenshots or releases it, it is just a load of hot air...

R. Somebody, Portsmouth, UK

After a year with office 2007 (yes I got it early). I can confirm it’s not the most productive front ends ever to hit our screens, apart from ‘outlook’ it’s actually a waste of space. It requires any organisation to spend on retraining, just for the basics. For day-to-day, or any serious use I always revert to office 2000.

As others have said and in the light of others stories elsewhere, confidential material is only confidential when the circulation is at its smallest. Detailed data on third party servers is asking for trouble.

Google with googlemail already monitor your email content so as to target you better with their advertising. What’s the next step?

Ian Bryan, Reading, UK

Wait a minute, this software *uses* Micro$oft Office, how exactly is this going to hurt Micro$oft?

Jaques, Montreal, Canada, QC

a) Many people and organisations dont want their sensitive documents residing on third party computers.

b) Despite the connectivity revolution we still cannot be connected to the Internet, all the time, wherever we are and with complete reliability. This isnt going to change anytime soon.

Hence, standalone, locally installed office applications are here to stay for the foreseeable future. Hotmail: fantastic idea, online office?...I for one wont be using or investing in it.

L Mckay, Newcastle,

Dominic Lambert clearly has no idea what open source means (incidentally that expression was not used in the article).

There is no right of the gorilla a the top of the tree to stay there forever and if Microsoft are too stuck in the old ways they will be toppled. Possibly not by open source software like openoffice.org and maybe by closed source proprietary software supplied free of charge by the likes of docs.google.com or Mr Bhatia.

zb, Guildford,

It's a myth why people want to use word processing software online, which requires a network connection, when free equivalent, e.g. openoffice, can be used on our PC or laptop 24/7? It's hard to justify pushing processing power to somewhere central across the network when I can run the word processing software on my ever more powerful cheap and cheeful PC locally. It may make more sense if we are talking about accessing the software from small mobile devices. But who'd want to do serious work on these devices? I don't suppose we are comparing accessing emails and working on documents or presentations!?

And on the cost of Microsoft's software, do you not think that Microsoft can lower the price of their software? They just don't need to, at least not yet!

arctanck, Reading, UK

Not much new about this - except that it's hosted... like google.

Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/) has been around for ages - basic, non-hosted (you download it), but works fine considering it's FREE!

I guess this guy will spend more money on the legal fees when MS drag him thru the courts for breach of copyright - than he did developing it.

Colin, Newbury, UK

The current open source software revolution may not spell the end for Microsoft office/OS but it will definitely give consumers less motivation to buy the software.

As it was Microsoft office that has dictated the general software businesses need, it was only a matter of time until the demand for free software sparked it's own development, by die-hard, passionate, not-for-profit geeks.

There is a market for people to use an on-line-based Office suite. There is also a market for a Microsoft controlled/developed/updated office suite, more crucial for some businesses to have the appropriate support which open-source cannot provide, and on-line is not responsible.

Your files are constantly at risk and they are your responsibility. Microsoft are as innefectual at protecting your data as any of the alternatives. The difference is you have to pay Microsoft for the inconvenience and uncertainty of the futility of data protection.

Andrew Corr, Burton On Trent, England

All speculation and all rubbish - It's tiresome to hear that Open source is going to replace Microsoft - face it people if that happens, it's not likely to be in our lifetime! Microsoft are very firmly entrenched in the world of business - I know that many people are moving to open source and other vendors, but the majority are sticking with what they know and trust....

Microsoft have produced software for such a long period of time that people are used to using their products - hence why the new 2007 look isn't all that successful.

It would be nice if people stopped ripping off others work, stopped moaning about costs and produced new software that was useful...

Seems to me Sabeer Bhatia is nothing more than a glorified thief.

Dominic Lambert, Witham, Essex UK

The writing is on the wall for Microsoft's fall or demise and the only question is when as their two core products namely the OS and Office suite are now under fire like never before. The continual upgrades of hardware and the subsequent software upgrades are no longer necessary. Even the lowest entry PC is more than adequate for 95% of users and they are only casual users at that. Vista has been the biggest arrogant mistake to date by Microsoft as over 90% of existing users can't use it due to incompatibility issues nor they don't need it. The Works giveaway software MS give away is a complete joke and most people have downloaded Open Office if they want a complete suite or smaller word processor programs if they just write letters. Many corporations that usually lead the field in upgrades are not doing so this time around as theres no real reason to do so. This on-line office suite looks like a useful add on for many if its at the right price rather than Microsofts rip off prices.

Mike, Alicante, Spain

An interesting read but will Procter & Gamble take offence?

Don Tindale, Tyne & Wear, UK

Linux distros,PC-BSD and GNU are so good and free its hard to understand why people pay for anything...???

Blag...Ubuntu...Fedora...PCLinuxOS...Etc.Etc.

Hugh E Torrance, London, England

Sigh. So you have somebody who not only copies a program (MS), but also is trying to copy another business model (Google). When they developed Hotmail, that was innovative. This is not.<BR> As to offering 2007 interface vs. the classic, that will probably backfire. 2007 interface is extremely new and is not being accepted well. Most users want the classic. The real issue is that if you have only the new interface, and a user is comfortable with it, then it implies that they already have the MS Office 2007. So, the question would be, why would they switch? They will not. OTH, if they are running MSO 2000, and they can move up cheap (by buying a server based Office clone), then they will. But they will probably go with what is known and works. I suspect that Google will have this edge. All Google has to do is make sure that they offer the 2007 interface when the next MSO comes out, with all the func of the new one.

g.r.r., Highlands Ranch, CO. USA

This could be the biggest boost for Linux distros yet. Why bother with new products designed to compete with MS Office? That race is already over when you can get OpenOffice (also Word compatible) for free.

This "new" software merely emulates what is already freely available. Go get 'em open source!

David North, Nagykovacsi, Hungary

My prediction is that Redmond will see the polish of this product compared to their own internal development and buy it - Just like Hotmail.

It is not comparable to alternatives from open source - it is closed with no assurance that documents will remain available or usable without a lock-in fee. Depending on its degree of compatibility, it may share insecurities like ActiveX.

So it fits well with Microsoft's world view - "Stick it to the customer".

Better to sticking with OpenOffice.org.

bbaston, Hot Springs, AR

Download OpenOffice instead, its free, fast and way more secure than using online service like that!

Mike, NY, NY

What exactly is news here? OpenOffice substitutes MS Office for free on desktops including all Windows, Mac OS and Linux for the last several years. I am writing this from a Linux box and legally have not been paying for software for the last 4 years now, and I have all I need for quite complex IT, software development, graphics, music tasks. Google Docs have been representing the concept of online office for some time now as well. So, what exactly is here the news? Think better of the reasons why desktop office applications (and I do not only mean free, but any) are better than online ones: they can be made bullet proof secure and confidential (simply by unplugging the net cable if not a firewall), you control who can see your data and they are reliable, which Internet apps with predicted brown-out of the the Net by 2011 will fail to guarantee.

This piece of "news" will be forgotten as instantly as it has appeared.

Oleg, Cambridge, UK

Sorry but I actually need to add to my previous comment: if you check the company website - the software is *not* available yet, it is closed source (thus you make your documents available to the world and do not even know who can see them), in contrast to Google Docs or OpenOffice or even Lotus Symphony, it runs only on Windows and by doing so promotes Windows.

Oleg, Cambridge, UK

What remains to be seen is whether MSFT will go ahead and purchase this online application from Sabber Bhatia... or rather is it up for sale .. ??

pats, phoenix, USA

This is about smart people creating smart products. It has little to do with nationality..

vidhu, Boston, USA

Thank you Sabeer Bhatia. You are our hero. Given the dedication of the Smart Bangalore Engineers, the guidance and encouragement you provide, we are hopefl your product will prove superior to any in the market and make your product the preferred office suite. You have made Bharat Mata proud. Wish you Continued success on your efforts.

Jay Bharat, USA, Silicon Valley,