Web-based software challenges Windows
One of Microsoft’s creations may just turn on them after all. Ajax, a developer of online “Office-like” applications, is knocking on Microsoft’s back door with its gradual release of web-based office tools. Don’t have Microsoft Office? Still need to type a letter with some form of formatting? No problem, it can all be done online with Writely word processor, one of several Ajax web apps. This can definitely bring to the home a cheap alternative to the $300-$600 Office software currently provided by Microsoft.
Such tools make computing less of a chore because they sit on distant Web servers and run over standard browsers. Users thus don’t have to worry about installing software or moving data when they switch computers. And that could bode ill for Microsoft Corp. and its flagship Office suite, which packs together word processing, spreadsheets and other applications. The threat comes in large part from Ajax, a set of Web development tools that speeds up Web applications by summoning snippets of data as needed instead of pulling entire Web pages over and over. “It definitely supports a Microsoft exit strategy,” said Alexei White, a product manager at Ajax developer eBusiness Applications Ltd. “I don’t think it can be a full replacement, but you could provide scaled-down alternatives to most Office products that will be sufficient for some users.” Ironically, Microsoft invented Ajax in the late 90s and has used it for years to power an online version of its popular Outlook e-mail program.
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