I love to hate Microsoft. And have made a point to support alternatives to their standard, knee-jerk products. But as I blog this article from a Firefox Add-on, I write it in Windows Live Writer on a laptop running Windows 7. Despite the fact that my son’s home computer runs OpenSUSE with OpenOffice a sizable portion of my workday is spent with MS Access and SQL server. Me conflicted? Sure
Let’s face it – when the Redmond giant is seriously challenged, they normally don’t disappoint. And the advance press I’ve seen on Office 2010 looks pretty promising. Especially the windows live features with on-line document storage and collaborative editing. Google apps? When there is no competition they look pretty strong. But in your office are people REALLY ready to completely abandon Microsoft Office? Probably not. So if you’re going to continue to pay for it, why not have the storage and collaboration features too?
A Revamped Microsoft Office, Free on the Web – NYTimes.com
For the first time, Microsoft will provide a free online version of Office that lets people store their documents on the Web rather than on their personal computers.
SharePoint online – Facebook alternative
A look at SharePoint’s technologies and available out-of-the-box social functionality certainly suggests some interesting possibilities for schools (and businesses and organizations for that matter). With Microsoft now pushing the concept of SharePoint as a platform for development (and a large and growing developer ecosystem) and their scalable SharePoint Online offering, I don’t think I’m that far out in left field.
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Randall Rode's online home for thoughts, notes, and experiments with a wide range of technology topics. Visit the about page for info on my recent projects and professional background. I welcome your comments!
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