Windows Phone 8 also includes Xbox Live, Microsoft Office, 7GB of online SkyDrive storage and faster, safer surfing with Internet Explorer 10.
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And while we're at it, ASUS' WebStorage also offers instant photo uploads, Microsoft Office Web Apps integration (so you can edit Office documents online using the official interface) and file collaboration.
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Users can quickly type using the on-screen keyboard and navigate through the slate's features with the highly responsive capacitive multi-touch screen, or write naturally on the screen using an electromagnetic pen, making it easy to take meeting notes, create documents and reports in Microsoft Office 2010, or browse online.
Microsoft announcing its gratis forthcoming Office suite online reminds us how lucky we are to again have such competition.
At the risk of seeming Google-centric, I have to point out that it's even possible to manage basic documents and spreadsheets online -- once proprietary to bloated Microsoft Office products -- for free with Google Docs.
Google has shown no interest in leasing out its vast infrastructure, but it is challenging Microsoft with a suite of online applications akin to Office.
The admissions office uses Microsoft's Net Meeting to conduct online chat sessions that let prospective students and their parents ask college administrators questions about admissions, financial aid and housing.
So I was skeptical when I heard Microsoft is trying to sell its new version of Office as an online subscription.
Microsoft updated its Office package to support touch-screen features and emphasize online file storage.
When you're online and signed in with a free Microsoft account (such as Hotmail, Live or Outlook.com), Office will push you toward storing your files online through Microsoft's SkyDrive storage service.
Under the cloud-computing model, Microsoft would store Office programs on its own servers and deliver them to customers online.
Silverlight also made it easier for developers to hook into the many back office systems Microsoft produces to help enrich the services that could be put online.
The numbers show how serious Ballmer is: Microsoft's Office desktop franchise piles up profits faster than even Google 's online advertising money machine.
While Google can launch online spreadsheet and word processing applications, Microsoft can't respond without damaging its powerful Office software business.
In conjunction with the beta release, Windows opened the Office 365 Marketplace, an online store where customers can add apps and services from Microsoft and partner companies to their accounts.
Online toolkits like Google Apps and Six Apart still seem more like gimmicks than real competitors to Microsoft Office today, but as server farms grow and become more efficient, the browser will evolve into the world's workspace.
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