Microsoft Office Live

Last Friday, I read a news article about Microsoft launching a web version of the very popular Office Suite, Microsoft Office. I immediately signed in on Microsoft Office's web site to try it. To my dismay, I am prompted to run a setup before I could use Microsoft Office Live. I endured the hassle of installing Microsoft Log in Assistant and allowing several ActiveX to run on my browser. What I expect to see is Microsoft Office running on my browser.

To my surprise, the web version only allows me to view my documents. When I tried to edit my document, I simply calls my installed Microsoft Office and opened the document. I really thought Microsoft will do something grand this time but I am caught off guard with what they have. I think Microsoft can do better than give us false hopes. Although I prefer Microsoft Office over any other Office Suite irregardless of the fact that it comes with a hefty price, I fail to appreciate Microsoft Office Live. I fail to see enough reason to use it over the locally installed suite.

Microsoft Office Live also comes with a 5GB storage capacity but I, for one, am skeptical about keeping files floating in cyberspace especially important and sensitive ones. You can never be too secure over the Internet.

Overall, while Microsoft Office Suite remains the top preference of users, Microsoft Office Live might not be as popular. There is nothing spectacular about Office Live.

You can visit Microsoft Office Live here.

Companies May Skip Windows 7?

Windows 7, Microsoft's newest contribution to the operating system(OS) market, received good reviews in contrast to Windows Vista's disappointing feedback. That may be a good news.

But according to a survey conducted by ScriptLogic Corp., as many as 60 percent of more than 1,000 companies that responded to the survey will skip purchasing Microsoft's latest operating system. This is not a problem on Microsoft's Windows 7 but rather a common trend among companies who want to conserve every penny they earn amidst a global financial crisis.

Many companies reasoned that they lack the time and the resources to upgrade their existing system. Another reason for the delay of upgrading is the concern of companies of over the compatibility of their existing applications with Windows 7. Microsoft already said that Windows 7 will feature Windows XP mode which will allow users to run applications on Windows 7. Users will have to install Virtual PC and run XP applications once. After that, XP applications will have no problem running on Windows 7.

If Microsoft fails miserably to market Windows 7 as a replacement for Windows Vista and Windows XP, they might be overtaken by other operating system. Google, for example, plans to release Chrome OS - an open source and lightweight operating system targeted for netbooks. Google might exploit the companies unwillingness and gain share of the operating system industry.

Bing: Microsoft's New Search Engine

Obviously the nicest of all the search engines I have used when it comes to looks. It is introduced to compete with Google's search engine and take away Google's dominance in search technology. Microsoft really hopes to succeed in replacing Google but that is yet to be seen since in my experience, Bing not yet extensive in indexing much of the sites. It is a big leap since Live Search and introduces many features as well.

Bing (formerly Live Search, Windows Live Search, and MSN Search) is a web search engine, Microsoft's current incarnation of its search technology. Unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer on May 28, 2009 at the All Things Digital conference in San Diego, Bing is a replacement for Live Search. It went fully online on June 3, 2009, with a preview version released on June 1, 2009. In its first few weeks Bing was successful in gaining some market share.

Notable changes include the listing of search suggestions in real time as queries are entered, and a list of related searches (called "Explorer pane" on the left side of search results), based on semantic technology from PowerSet which Microsoft purchased in 2008. Bing also includes the ability to Save & Share search histories via Windows Live SkyDrive, Facebook, and email.

You can visit Bing here.