Microsoft has unveiled a new initiative to deliver more of its software’s features and services over the internet.
The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant has announced online versions of its Windows operating system and other popular software programs, hoping to defuse a growing threat from Google Inc. and other fast-moving challengers.
Windows Live and Office Live will give users much of the functionality of the software giant’s two most-profitable products, but without the complexity of installing and maintaining the software in computer hard drives, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie, a longtime software services pioneer who recently joined Microsoft, told reporters in San Francisco.
With a new website called Windows Live, Microsoft hopes to create a new platform that will unfasten some of its applications from a computer hard drive.
It is a revolution in how we think about software, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told reporters and industry analysts. This is a big change for…every part of the ecosystem. Our dream is to deliver a seamless experience where all the technology in your life and business comes together in a way that just works for you, Ozzie said in a statement.
Microsoft is facing increasing competition from competitors that have built businesses by delivering information and software-based services over the Web such as Google and Yahoo. Microsoft’s MSN internet division, created nearly a decade ago to compete against AOL, then the dominant player in the internet space, has up to now led the charge against Yahoo and Google.
The change reflects Microsoft’s recognition of the growing demand for applications and services that can be used from any place, at any time, as the lines between the home and office blur and portable computing devices become more powerful.
In many cases, Windows Live – available at www.live.com – will offer souped – up versions of services like online mapping and instant messaging that have long been available on Microsoft’s MSN.com, a heavily trafficked site that will continue to operate.
Gates emphasized that neither Windows Live nor another service called Windows Office will replace the operating system or other popular applications, such as word processing and spreadsheets, sold on disks that are installed on individual hard drives.
Microsoft also plans to continue to operate MSN.com, a website that inspired many of the features included in the Windows Live website.
Windows Live will be offered for free and try to make money from the rapidly expanding online advertising market that has been fuelling the explosive growth of Google and Yahoo Inc., providing them with the financial and intellectual firepower to challenge the world’s largest software maker.
Microsoft also plans to charge monthly fees for some of the Live Office features aimed primarily at small businesses – a subscription model that has been a boon so far for online software pioneers like Salesforce.com Inc., NetSuite Inc. and RightNow Technologies Inc.