Digital Marketing and Technological Insight

Microsoft is finally seeing the light when it comes to the power of the browser and works to continue its mantra of  “software plus services”. Yesterday the boys in Redmond announced that they will be offering a “lightweight” version of various Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) that can be accessed through the browser. The new service, called Office Web Applications, will be part of the next release of Office. Office Web Applications will be delivered through Office Live and will offer free ad-based or subscription based access.

“As part of the next release of Office, we’re announcing that Microsoft will deliver Office Web applications - lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote - through a browser. With these new applications, people can use a browser to create, edit, and collaborate on Office documents. What’s great is that this provides a consistent Office experience when and where our customers want it, regardless of whether they are accessing their Office documents through the PC, phone, or browser.”

Now this should come as a shock to no one considering it makes perfect sense and Google has had tremendous success with their web-based Office type products. So the question becomes, will they work outside of Internet Explorer? Based on previous Microsoft product launches I would say no – or at least not function correctly. Now I am a huge fan of Firefox and Google’s Chrome, but if I was Microsoft I would make Office Web Applications I.E. exclusive – want to use our products then use our browser. All is fair in love and the browser war.

Check out some Office Web Applications screen shots below:

Apple just announced that they are launching a version of the Safari 3 browser for Windows, oh and here comes a real surprise - the new iPhone will run Safari as well. This is just another example of how Apple is extending it’s business into other areas, this time it takes aim at the 78% share of Internet Explorer. Yes, Safari for Windows is cool and has some great features…it even seems to be faster then IE and Firefox as Steve claimed. But, ehhhh what is the big deal? I will always run IE for testing and certain sites / applications that require it. So the question is, is Safari better then my beloved Firefox? No…it isn’t worse and it isn’t better. So why would I use 3 browsers? Answer…I won’t. I will keep Safari on my PC, but it is a distant 3rd on my list and will soon fall into the "unused icon" bucket. Want to  decide for yourself? You can download the public beta of Safari 3 here.