Microsoft Unveils Online Software
Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday unveiled Internet-based software products to help users search the Web and organize their computer desktops. The move is aimed at fighting rivals Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. for online advertising.
Windows Live and Office Live provide users a variety of functions and services on the Internet, without the need to install software.
Windows Live, meant for consumers, provides several services on a single Web page: Internet search, e-mail, instant messaging, news headlines, podcasts, photo sharing and maps. Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft will introduce other functions later this year.
The service can be used anytime from any computer with Internet access, and will be mostly free, supported by advertising.
“It’s a revolution in how we think about software,” said Bill Gates, chairman and co-founder of the world’s largest software company, in remarks to reporters and industry analysts. “This is a big change for ... every part of the ecosystem.”
But analysts were less wowed by the service, some of which is available at www.live.com.
The technology didn’t seem particularly new, with most of it already available through My Yahoo and Google Sidebar, said Paul DeGroot, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft.
“This does not appear to be product or strategy that’s been under development for a long time,” DeGroot said. “I think Microsoft is responding to what’s happening in the marketplace.”
Microsoft has about 10% of the online advertising market, Gates said. That puts it well behind industry leader Google, with about two-thirds of the market, and No. 2 Yahoo, DeGroot said.
“It seems like they really rushed it out, so we don’t have a good handle on what it may include,” he said.
Office Live is a set of Web-based services aimed at helping small businesses grow without having to purchase expensive application software often used by large corporations.
The site, which will be available on an invitation-only basis early next year, will offer tools to set up websites, automate business tasks and communicate with employees, customers and partners.
