Microsoft to offer Office Web apps for free

Microsoft borrows a page from Google’s playbook with free and paid-for versions of its Office Web apps online suite, but also offers DIY hosting on your own server.

In a clear sign of just how much Google has changed the desktop computing game, Microsoft has bowed to the inevitable and will make the online version of its Office suite free.

The Web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote – which Microsoft promises will run in competing browsers such as Firefox and Safari, and support smartphones such as the iPhone and BlackBerry – are being decoupled from the forthcoming Office 2010 suite so that no purchase of Microsoft software is needed to use the Office Web service.

That said, some mobile functions may require Office Mobile 2010 and of course Microsoft will promote Office 2010 as the perfect desktop companion to the lightweight online apps.

Office Web will be available in a free ‘basic’ version as part of its Windows Live service and no doubt also through the Office.com domain which Microsoft purchased earlier this year it bought from a ‘virtual office’ company for an unnamed sum.

Companies which sign up for an annual licence for the Office 2010 Standard suite will also be able to host Office Web on their own server (using SharePoint Server) for no extra charge, or buy a subscription to access the Web apps through Microsoft’s own data centres.

While today is also the kickoff for the invitation-only Office 2010 Technical Preview program – a wider public beta will follow later this year, prior to a launch in the first half of 2010 – that trial doesn’t include a sneak peek at the Office Web apps.

Microsoft says these won’t debut until August, which is also when the company takes control of the Office.com domain which earlier this year it bought from a ‘virtual office’ company for an unnamed sum.

The company will also trim the number of versions of Office 2010 from eight editions down to five, including ditching the Office Ultimate pack, although pricing has yet to be announced.

Three consumer versions will be offered at retail. Office Home and Student includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Office Home and Business adds Outlook, while Office Professional throws Access and Publisher into the mix.

Business customers will be able to buy site-wide licences for Office Standard, which includes Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote and Publisher, and also lets the company host the Office Web apps on their own server. The Professional Plus edition adds Access, InfoPath, SharePoint Workspace (formerly Groove) and the Microsoft Communicator instant messaging program.

You can see previews of the Office 2010 apps, Office Web and Office 2010 Mobile at www.microsoft.com/office/2010. (The lass in the Office Web clip seems to have popped a few Valium to calm her nerves before recording her demo.)