微软已开始通过让 Office "上网"维持在办公软件领域的优势。早在 11 年前，微软就已开始让用户通过互联网收发 Outlook 电子邮件，数年前开始让客户"租用"服务器空间，无需自己购买服务器。2008 年 11 月，微软将 Excel 电子表格和协作软件 SharePoint "搬"到了网上。用户可以"租用"微软的软件，自己无需支出巨额前期费用。

微软需要加快"上网"速度。微软计划今天首次公开展示 Office 2010 部分软件。当前微软面临着来自 Google 的激烈竞争，Google 对微软构成的威胁可能还包括刚刚公布的 Chrome OS。

通过推出免费或低价产品 - 例如 Gmail 和 Google Apps， Google 已经在慢慢蚕食微软市场。市场研究公司IDC表示，基于Web的办公软件市场份额还太小，在投资报告中不会公布相关数据。IDC 分析师 Melissa Webster 表示，去年对 400 家大公司进行的调查发现，只有约 4% 使用基于 Web 的办公软件，而且这些公司仍然在使用部分微软产品。



Google 促使微软让 Office 提前"上网"？

市场研究公司 Endpoint Technologies Associates 分析师 Roger L. Kay 表示， Google 肯定在试图占领微软的市场。由于 Google 在后边紧追不舍，微软可能被迫让 Office 提前"上网"- 至少短期内如此。

今天，微软在新奥尔良举办的一次商业合作伙伴会议上展示 Office 2010 中的部分新软件，其中包括使员工能更方便地在文档和项目上合作的工具。微软还讨论了一款精简版 Office ，供用户通过网络免费使用。用户可以通过浏览器，甚至手机使用 Word、PowerPoint、 Excel 等软件。

但是，最好的功能将只供付费用户使用。这是因为微软还没有探索出通过网络软件赚钱的途径，传统 Office 仍然是该公司"不可或缺"的摇钱树。在微软企业部门 198 亿美元的营收中，大部分来自 Office 。

十多年来， Office 一直令微软进退两难。早在 1997 年，微软就秘密成立了 NetDocs 部门，考虑 Office "上网"问题。 NetDocs 与 Office 部门发生了冲突： Office 高管担心 NetDocs 会蚕食现有业务，使现有业务遭到淘汰。微软关闭了 NetDocs，但其部分工作被应用在微软产品中。



目前，通过互联网使用软件和服务的趋势已不可逆转。在硅谷，绝大多数软件创业公司都通过网络发布产品。微软深深地了解这一点，因此，其一方面在保护既得利益，一方面在积极开拓网络市场。在新奥尔良举办的会议上，微软还讨论了 Azure 云计算平台的价格策略。Azure 使客户能够将计算和存储基础设施外包给微软管理的数据中心。

目前当然还不能认为微软已被淘汰出局。Kay 表示，电子邮件等云计算服务将迅速普及，因为它们不要求支持网络"一直开机"：用户可以离线创建电子邮件，然后再联网发送。即时发送或延时 30 秒发送一封电子邮件差别并不大。Kay 指出，如果在编辑一份重要的项目文档，互联网连接断开时用户甚至无法输入一个字符。出于这一原因，许多企业用户更喜欢 Office 等功能强劲的 PC 本地软件。



以下是微软官方新闻稿：

NEW ORLEANS - July 13, 2009 - Today, at its Worldwide Partner Conference 2009, Microsoft Corp. announced that Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft Visio 2010 and Microsoft Project 2010 have reached the technical preview engineering milestone. Starting today, tens of thousands of people will be invited to test Office and Visio as part of the Technical Preview program.

"Office 2010 is the premier productivity solution across PCs, mobile phones* and browsers," said Chris Capossela, senior vice president of the Microsoft Business Division at Microsoft. "From broadcast and video editing in PowerPoint, new data visualization capabilities in Excel, and co-authoring in Word, we are delivering technology to help people work smarter and faster from virtually any location using any device."

Office 2010 and related products will deliver innovative capabilities and provide new levels of flexibility and choice that will help people:

• Work anywhere with Office Web applications - the lightweight Web browser versions of Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote - that provide access to documents from virtually anywhere and preserve the look and feel of a document regardless of device.
• Collaborate better with co-authoring in Microsoft Word 2010, Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft OneNote 2010, and advanced e-mail management and calendaring capabilities in Microsoft Outlook 2010, including the option for users to "ignore" unwanted threads.
• Bring ideas to life with video and picture editing, broadcast capability in Microsoft PowerPoint 2010, easy document preparation through the new Microsoft Office Backstage view, and new Sparklines in Microsoft Excel 2010 to visualize data and spot trends more quickly.

Microsoft also announced that it is streamlining the number of Office editions from eight to five and enhancing each edition with additional applications and features. The company also announced that Office Web applications will be available in three ways: through Windows Live, where more than 400 million consumers will have access to Office Web applications at no cost; on-premises for all Office volume licensing customers including more than 90 million Office annuity customers; and via Microsoft Online Services, where customers will be able to purchase a subscription as part of a hosted offering.

Partner Opportunities

Microsoft also is preparing partners for the release of Office 2010 and SharePoint Server 2010 through a number of new and refreshed readiness tools and training programs. These include the Ignite program for SharePoint, Office and Exchange; Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimization (BPIO) University; Masters and Architect Certification for SharePoint; new Partner Business Productivity Online Services features and distributor model; and Exchange 2010 Readiness Webcast Series and Demo Showcase. More information on these programs can be found at http://partner.microsoft.com/businessproductivity.

Availability

All Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference attendees will receive invitations to participate in the Technical Preview program. Office 2010 and related products will be available in the first half of 2010. More information about Office 2010 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/Office2010.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

This information is about pre-release software and therefore is subject to change. It is provided without warranty of any kind, express or implied.

* Mobile functionality requires an appropriate device and Internet connection. Some functionality also requires Office Mobile 2010, which is not included in Office 2010 applications or suites.

延伸阅读：The Complete Guide To Microsoft's Office 2010