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Microsoft Windows, Office Software Available Online

Microsoft Corporation announced it will make live features of its Windows operating system and other popular software programmes available via the Internet so they can be accessed from PCs or mobile devices, Xinhua News Agency reported on November 2.

With a new Web site called "Windows Live," available at http://www.live.com, Microsoft hopes to create a new platform that will unfasten some of its applications from computer hard drives.

The site repackages some of the features Microsoft already offers at its heavily trafficked MSN.com, adds more customized tools and makes it easier to view the same products and services at any time from any place.

"It's a revolution in how we think about software," Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates told reporters and industry analysts on November 2. “This is a big change for every part of the ‘ecosystem.’ ”

Microsoft also introduced Microsoft Office Live, an Internet-based version of the software giant's suite of software products targeted to small businesses.

The Office Live software will be available in a beta version in the first quarter of 2006 and will be distributed on an invitation-only basis during the beta period. The software will offer free Web services such as a custom domain names, 10GB of e-mail storage, real-time collaboration services, and business analytics.

Windows Live and Office Live are not intended to replace original Windows Office software.

MSN.com will continue to operate, too, although Windows Live offers many of the same features.

Microsoft plans to eventually move MSN's e-mail, as well as its free Hotmail service, to Windows Live.