Microsoft Moves to the Web

Much buzz in the past few years expounds how software is migrating from the "box" to the Web. Users routinely download electronic files rather than buy old-fashioned packages from retailers or business suppliers. Yet both techniques still deliver a standalone product. Recent announcements by Google and Yahoo that they will provide complimentary word-processing capability and other tools through their Web engines has upped the ante considerably. Even Microsoft has noticed. This item from the Washington Post details plans by the software giant to allow Office users to access their documents from anywhere in the world. Baby steps compared to Google's and Yahoo's, perhaps, for a company that has always relied on individual purchases, but baby steps in the right direction.

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