Microsoft is surveying prospective consumers regarding what it must identify its forthcoming Workplace Internet Programs suite.As LiveSide.Net is reporting, amongst the handful of Workplace Web Apps brand name names below consideration are Microsoft Ensemble, Microsoft Optro, Microsoft ArcLight, Microsoft Offsite and Microsoft Equipt. (Indeed, they are in the midst of killing off the existing Equipt subscription support. But why let an currently trademarked title visit waste?)Microsoft also is sharing a little additional positioning specifics about the forthcoming suite of Web-hosted Phrase, PowerPoint,
Microsoft Office 2010 Pro Plus, Excel and OneNote apps that it really is expected to release to a wider group of testers in mid-July,
Office Professional Plus 2010, as part of the Workplace 2010 Neighborhood Technologies Preview.Based on a Internet survey which appears to become aimed additional at IT pros and developers than buyers, Microsoft is plainly positioning Office Internet Apps as complements to client-based Office, not being a alternative to it. The survey asks which of the above-mentioned names does the best task of describing an providing that might compete with Google Apps, Google;s hosted app suite aimed at organization customers.Microsoft is expected to make Workplace Web Apps a free of charge, ad-supported suite for people,
Office 2010 Activation, but a paid, subscription-based company for enterprise buyers.The survey also highlights a number of the forthcoming integration between Microsoft Workplace and Workplace Web Apps that Microsoft is incorporating to the Web-based item. The Workplace Web Apps release will supply customers with synchronization of e-mail, calendar and make contact with products between Internet browsers (not just World wide web Explorer, but also Safari and Firefox), desktop programs (by way of Outlook) and mobile devies (Windows Mobile phones, Blackberries and iPhones).Workplace Internet Apps also will enable users to obtain their voicemails delivered to their e-mail inboxes, allowing them to listen or read a transcription of their messages; store and share paperwork over the Web; and talk through “business-grade” instant messaging tools that are connected to Outlook address books, the survey says.I think a lot of testers — and ultimately,
Microsoft Office Professional Plus, end users — are going to be a bit let down by Workplace Internet Apps. Microsoft officials have been touting them as Web-based versions of current Office apps. But from what I;m hearing from my sources,
Microsoft Office 2010 Standard, these Web apps are definitely far more like company complements to Workplace than alternatives to it. It sounds like SharePoint is the unheralded middleman inside the Office Web Apps scenario, and processes like saving and printing paperwork may not be doable without going due to SharePoint first.Microsoft officials aren;t discussing particulars about Office Internet Apps, although they're expected to share additional details (and code) at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans in mid-July.Which of the possible new names for Office Web Apps do you think Microsoft need to choose? What kinds of capabilities do you think the Workplace Internet Apps suite need to have to become a real competitor to Google Apps?