Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing : Microsoft Office and Office Live take on the Web 2.0 competitors

 Timely snapshot from Microsoft's Don Dodge.  He neglects to mention that you can't actually purchase Office Live yet,although you can sign up for the free beta.

Office Live is one of several scenarios for which Microsoft has placed a strategic bet on Windows SharePoint Services v3/Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

See the full post for a handy list of old and new contenders.

Om Malik writes "Web Office vs. Microsoft Office", the market is very crowded with at least 17 web office up-starts, citing a Red Herring article.

Microsoft Office is the "gold standard" for office productivity applications, and has been for more than 15 years. What are these new startups bringing to the table? Lightweight, web based applications that can be updated quickly, accessed from anywhere with a web browser, and in some cases, built in collaboration tools.

Microsoft is responding to the challenge with Microsoft Office Live, a suite of productivity applications for small business. And, Groove will be a major part of the next version of Office. Groove founder, Ray Ozzie is now Microsoft's Chief Software Architect. Expect to see collaboration and software services infused into everything Microsoft does.

Source: Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing : Microsoft Office and Office Live take on the Web 2.0 competitors