Microsoft to soon sell full range of Web software – I use and like Office Live for Small Business and Office Live Workspace

I have been using both the Office Live with the web and Office Live Small Business myself and couldn’t be happier. The Outlook Connector which is also free works well with my Office Desktop Applications. I also like the small Share Point Server that comes with the entire set up. Also to be added to the suite are the online CRM services too, which I participated in the beta and that is also worth a look. Some of the products are already out there and offer the best of both worlds, desktop, web, and connections between both, or you can just use the web products. I like options.

All my email synchronizes between machines automatically and I can access my email anywhere on the web. I can invite others to view documents on the server and they don’t even need MS Office on their machine to access at all. Sharing documents is no problem.

I was a bit sketchy at first when I tried the suite, but as of today, I’ll stay with it, works good, never down. Also on my Outlook Calendar, no more having to use any 3rd party software to synchronize calendars, done with the Web Office. It is also on the web and available whenever I need it. I have a small web site with the services which I call the Widget site and again, no downtime and it is easy to update with templates on line.

You set all the permission with one person being designated as the Admin.

If you are a small medical practice, check it out.

One other item of note for students, don’t forget the Big Steal for $59.99 – Office Ultimate which is normally around $600.00 and available for current students with an EDU email address extension and runs through December 2010. BD

NEW YORK, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp will soon launch a full range of online versions of its software products, including

the Office suite, and expects the weak economy to accelerate growth of the nascent Web-based software market, a senior executive said on Monday. Stephen Elop, president of Microsoft's business division, is leading the company's entry into the "software as a service" market, which offers programs that are hosted online instead of downloaded to computer hard drives.

By using the Web to host software like Microsoft Office, as well as Exchange e-mail and SharePoint collaborative software, Microsoft customers do not need to spend as much money on equipment and maintenance of computer servers.

Washington-based Microsoft has said it plans to upgrade its Office business software to include online versions of the popular Word and Excel programs.