July 21st, 2009

Microsoft's fiscal 2010 game plan: Seven must-see slides

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 6:05 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Database, Network service providers, OEMs, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, Resellers, SharePoint Server, System builders, Systems integrators, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server"), Windows client, Windows server, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows, Games, Microsoft Windows 7, Operating Systems, Software, Personal Technology, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft officials have been saying for the past month that the company’s fiscal 2010, which kicked off on July 1, will encompass its biggest product launch wave ever.

We already know Windows 7 goes on sale on October 22. But Microsoft hasn’t provided specifics as to whether it will hold another Vista-like consumer launch around that time. And beyond that — what else do the Softies have up their sleeves? What’s coming when?

At last week’s Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft did share a few more launch tidbits with the 6,000 or so developers, resellers, integrators and hardware partners attending.

I’ve culled some of the best slides from the various WPC slide decks that show off how Microsoft is advising its partners — who, for all intents and purposes, are Microsoft’s salesforce — to plan to go to market with their customers in the coming year.

Keep in mind that these slides are focused on Microsoft products that it sells primarily through partners: Windows, Office, SQL Server, Exchange, etc. You won’t find mentions of Bing or Zune here. But it’s also interesting there is no mention of Windows Mobile — even though Microsoft is trying to light a fire under partners to help sell its beleaguered mobile operating system.

From these slides, this is what I’d expect the business-focused launch calendar to look like:

• Windows 7/Windows Server 2008/Exchange 2010 rollout: November/December 2009
• SharePoint 2010: Early 2010
• Visual Studio 2010: Spring 2010
• Office 2010: May/June 2010

Check out my annotated slideshow of Microsoft’s FY10 game plan here.

I’m curious whether you see anything interesting in these slides that I missed… Comments welcome.

July 17th, 2009

Yahoo and Microsoft: If at first you don't succeed...

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:15 am

Categories: Advertising, Channel, Corporate strategy, Google, Search, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC), Yahoo

Tags: Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft Corp., Reports, Sales Strategy, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Business Structures, Sales Force Management, Search, Sales

Reports are flying yet again that Microsoft and Yahoo are close to finalizing a search/advertising partnership.

Yes, this is at least the 50th time we’ve heard this over the past year. Yes, execs from Microsoft allegedly are jetting to Yahoo headquarters for (non) hush-hush meetings. And yes, both companies are not talking publicly about what might or might not happen.

(Supposedly, Yahoo might outsource its search business to Microsoft and Microsoft might let Yahoo handle part of its advertising. Or something like that….)

The timing couldn’t be better for Microsoft if such a deal comes through. On July 23, Microsoft  reports its fiscal 2009 fourth-quarter earnings. With no Windows 7 available yet, Microsoft’s Windows client business will  likely be flailing a bit. It’s also Microsoft’s annual sales conference next week. Can you imagine CEO Steve Ballmer galloping around the stage, with the Microsoft sales and marketing corps cheering his hoarse cries of “Bing! Bing! Bing!”?

By the way, in spite of all the Bing hype and studies claiming exponential growth from week to week, Comscore said that Microsoft’s search share actually grew .4 percent in June, the first month Microsoft’s revamped search engine was widely available. So now Microsoft’s search share is 8.4 percent, Yahoo (which lost share in June) is at 19.6 percent and Google is holding steady with 65 percent of the search market.

At Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference this week, neither Ballmer nor Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner let the word “Yahoo” pass their lips. Ballmer mentioned Bing, but more in the context of proof that Microsoft can take endless abuse but still be tenacious. (And to tell Microsoft partners they should make their search default Bing and not Google.)

Is a multi-billion-dollar Microsoft-Yahoo deal finally going to happen? I have no idea. But if it is, next week would be a great time for Microsoft to announce it.

July 16th, 2009

Microsoft's fiscal 2010 battle cry: Growing our share

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 8:15 am

Categories: Apple, Channel, Corporate strategy, Exchange Server, Google, Internet Explorer, Linux, OEMs, Office 2010/Office 14, Resellers, Search, SharePoint Server, System builders, Systems integrators, Utility/cloud computing, Virtualization, Windows 7, Windows Mobile, Windows Server 2008 R2 /("Windows 7 Server"), Windows client, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Sales Strategy, Sales Force Management, Enterprise Software, Sales, Software, Mary Jo Foley

It might seem ironic for a company that has cornered more than 90 percent market share in both desktop operating systems and office suites to be focused on growing its share.

But that’s how Microsoft officials are identifying their mission for fiscal 2010, which began for Microsoft on July 1. At the company’s global sales meeting, known as MGX, the week of July 20, Microsoft’s top brass is hoping to whip the sales troops into a share-growth frenzy.

Microsoft’s reseller partners got a taste of some of the sales priorities for the company during Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner’s keynote at the Worldwide Partner Conference on July 15.  Microsoft is taking the gloves off, Turner wanted to make clear.

“We’ve got lots of competitors. We’ve got great competitors. They’re out there every single day trying to take our market share,” Turner told the resellers on Wednesday. “But you know what? We’ve got incredible products and solutions. And in each case, they’re built on that high-value, low-cost proposition with partners.”

Turner listed the companies Microsoft is most focused on taking share from in the coming year. They are:

• Oracle (with SQL Server 2008 R2)
• Google (with Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010 on the Google Apps front and Bing on search)
• VMWare (with Hyper-V/Windows Server 2008 R2)
• Lotus (with Exchange 2010)
• OpenOffice (with Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010)
• Apple (with Windows 7)

(I found it interesting who Turner failed to mention when talking up Microsoft’s competition. Amazon sure has a hefty head start in the rent-a-cloud space. Mozilla is sure coming on strong against Internet Explorer. Apple has Microsoft on the run in the mobile OS market. Red Hat and other Linux distributors still have a lot of mind share in key parts of the server space — in spite of Turner’s claim that Microsoft has competed really well agains “the fraudulent perception of free.”)

Turner’s message to partners in many of these cases was the competitive offerings may carry higher margins, but they are a lot more expensive than what Microsoft has. It sounds like the Softies, buoyed by the reception its Laptop Hunter ads received, is going to try a similar sales/marketing tact with SQL Server, Hyper-V and other products by touting their higher cost vis-a-vis Microsoft’s offerings.

(Speaking of the Laptop Hunters ad campaign, am I the only one who thinks Microsoft’s obsession with Apple has gone around the bend? Apple has less five-plus percent of the desktop operating system market, and, according to IDC, is now down to No. 5 among U.S. PC vendors. The majority of consumers I know who are looking to buy a new PC are either in the Windows or Mac camp when they go out to make a purchase. But Microsoft is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on Apple-focused ads and retail stores which will be located next door to Apple’s temples for the faithful. Why?)

Anyway, back to “Grow our share.” I guess “Save our share” wouldn’t have the same ring to it. But I wonder whether Microsoft’s arrows are missing some key targets and are focused too much on competitors from the past. What’s your take: Are the Softies back in fighting form or just tilting at windmills?

July 16th, 2009

Read the fine print in Microsoft's new application platform license

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:59 am

Categories: Channel, Corporate strategy, Database, Development tools, Dynamics CRM, Resellers, SQL Server, SharePoint Server, Systems integrators, Windows server, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Software, Volume-license, Software License, Microsoft Corp., Software Assurance, APA, Micosoft, Tools & Techniques, Management, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft (unsurprisingly) doesn’t tout the fact, but its newest licensing agreement could leave enterprise customers product-less if they don’t renew it.

As of October 1, Microsoft will offer customers with its Application Platform Agreement (APA) license the right to buy software covered in the contract. But even with that new clause, is the APA a good deal?

Microsoft APA — an “all you can eat” license for Microsoft’s server products — was a big topic at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference show for its reseller partners this week. The APA license is focused on products that Microsoft considers part of its “application platform,” including SQL Server, BizTalk Server, SharePoint Server, Visual Studio and the Dynamics xRM “everything relationship management” business software.

In many ways, the APA is like Microsoft’s Software Assurance (SA) add-on to its volume-license agreements. Except for one, as one reader told me recently:

“There is an important difference between the APA licenses and the ‘old’ ones that Microsoft doesn’t tell you and that is that when the APA  license runs out you don’t own the products. Normally if you decide to not have a SA license anymore you still own the products.

“When the SA ends, you own perpetual rights to the most recent version that was released during the SA coverage. But when APA ends, you don’t get any perpetual rights (unless bought separately or somehow negotiated in),” Microsoft licensing expert and Senior Vice President of  Distributed Desktop Services at NET(net), Inc. Scott Braden confirmed.

When contacted about the APA particulars, Microsoft officials acknowledged the current limitation of the APA license. A spokesperson told me the following via e-mail:

“Today, under the former Application Platform Agreement (APA), new software licenses that are added during the agreement term need to be purchased at the end of the agreement or need to be de-installed…. If the customer has Microsoft Software Assurance (SA) when they purchase Microsoft Application Platform (App Plat), they keep the rights to the latest version of the software licenses.If a customer doesn’t have SA at the time they decide to purchase App Plat, then they need to purchase the software licenses to retain the latest version.If a customer opts not to purchase the software licenses at renewal, then the software licenses revert to the original version they purchased.”

Starting October 1, however, Microsoft is planning to add a new option to the APA to allow customers to buy products they licensed under APA. That new volume-licensing option is called the Enrollment for Application Platform.

Read the rest of this entry »

July 15th, 2009

Microsoft to open retail stores near Apple's this fall

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:58 am

Categories: Advertising, Apple, Channel, Corporate strategy, Windows 7, Windows client, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Retail Company, Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Retail, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is planning to open the first of its planned retail stores next to existing Apple stores this fall.

Kevin Turner, Microsoft’s Chief Operating Officer, told partners the news during his Worldwide Partner Conference keynote on July 15. A number of attendees tweeted Turner’s words immediately.

Microsoft officials announced in February that Microsoft was planning to open retail stores but have offered few details since that time as to what the stores would look like or when they’d open. I did hear from some Softies that the stores wouldn’t be clones of Apple’s, and that they’d be more showcases than actual retail outlets.

Turner told Partner show attendees that the knowledge Microsoft gained from running the stores would be “shared with partners.”

According to partners attending the conference, Turner said Microsoft wouldn’t be imitating Apple; it would be innovating with the new stores. Earlier this year, Microsoft officials said the stores would be more about building Microsoft’s consumer brand than distribution.

Microsoft hired David Porter, a former Dreamworks Animation and Wal-mart exec, as Corporate Vice President of Retail Stores earlier this year.

Microsoft is set to make Windows 7 generally available on October 22. No word so far if the Microsoft retail stores will open around that same date. I’ve asked Microsoft for more information — where the stores will be located, how many will open this fall, etc. No response so far.

Update: A Microsoft spokesperson provided the following statement, for what it’s worth:

“As we progress on our retail strategy there will be scenarios where we have stores in proximity to Apple.  We are on track to open stores in the Fall timeframe.

“Beyond that we have no additional details to share.”

July 14th, 2009

Microsoft to allow Win Mobile 6.0, 6.1 users access to its online app store

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 9:05 am

Categories: Apple, Channel, Corporate strategy, Network service providers, OEMs, Windows Mobile, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Phone, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, Microsoft Corp., App, Microsoft Windows, Mobile Operating Systems, Advertising & Promotion, Operating Systems, Mobile Applications

On the same day Apple celebrated the one-year anniversary of its iPhone app store, Microsoft announced it a few more tidbits about its own Windows Marketplace for Mobile store.

Microsoft used its Worldwide Partner Conference in New Orleans on July 14 to provide a few updates about its Windows Mobile plans.

The first Windows Mobile 6.5 phones are on track to begin shipping in early fall, said Todd Brix, Senior Director of Mobile Services with Microsoft. The Windows Marketplace for Mobile app store will  open simultaneously, Brix reiterated. And Microsoft will be kicking off an ad campaign for Windows Phones (the new way the company refers to Windows Mobile phones) that will be very consumer-focused.

As of July 27, Microsoft will begin testing and certifying third-party apps that will be featured in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile (codenamed Skymarket), Brix said.

And Microsoft is now publicly acknowledging that it will allow users of Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1 — not just Windows Mobile 6.5 — will be able to access the Windows Marketplace for Mobile. As a result, Microsoft will expand the market for those apps to 30 million potential customers, Brix said.

Brix said Microsoft is working with Windows Mobile phone makers and mobile operators as to how it will provide users with older Windows Mobile phones with this Marketplace access. In some cases, users will simply be able to go to the Marketplace Web site and download apps directly to their phones. In other cases, mobile operators and phone vendors might become the middlemen, providing Windows Mobile users with access to the store.

The Marketplace for Mobile store will include a separate business center area that will highlight the business apps available for Windows Mobile phones, Brix said. Those kinds of apps will include vertical apps for real estate, medical, legal and other markets, as well as more horizontal apps like Microsoft’s own Office Mobile and Communicator Mobile wares, he said.

Brix declined to provide any kind of update on what’s going on with Windows Mobile 7. I’m still hearing Microsoft will deliver the Mobile 7 code to its phone partners this fall, with the first Windows Mobile 7 phones arriving in the first half of 2010.

He also declined to comment on Skyline, the Windows Mobile push e-mail service Microsoft was working on for SMB customers. In fact, he wouldn’t acknowledge the codename at all. But if body language says anything, though, I’d say Skyline is DOA and we won’t see it come to market.

July 13th, 2009

Microsoft to flesh out further its private cloud strategy

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 2:15 pm

Categories: App Compatibility, Azure, Channel, Corporate strategy, Management tools, Network service providers, OEMs, Resellers, System Center, System builders, Systems integrators, Utility/cloud computing, Virtualization, Windows server, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Strategy, Data Center, Microsoft Corp., Data Centers, Storage, Hardware, Data Management, Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is crystalizing its “private cloud” positioning and plans to run it by the 6,000 or so partners attending its Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) this week.

Microsoft officials previously have said that they won’t allow customers to run the Microsoft Azure cloud operating system on customers’ on-premise servers, but that they will make available to users many of the advances in Windows Server, System Center, Hyper-V and other Microsoft technologies so users can create their own “private clouds.”

Microsoft is expected to tout its Dynamic Data Center Toolkit for Enterprises at the show. The product, originally expected to ship by the end of 2009 — according to a private cloud fact sheet that was on Microsoft’s site earlier today but is gone — is now slated for the first half of 2010. It is a “free, partner-extensible toolkit that will enable datacenters to dynamically pool, allocate, and manage resources to enable IT as a service.” Microsoft already offers a version of the Dynamic Data Center Toolkit for its hosting partners.

The Enterprise version of the toolkit is available to enterprise customers, systems integrators and independent software vendors. According to Microsoft’s site,, the toolkit includes an architectural roadmap, deployment guidance, best practices, tools (to help users move existing apps to the cloud?) and unnamed technologies that will provide “interoperability with public clouds.”

Microsoft is attempting to make the distinction between its private and public cloud solutions more concrete. On its Private Cloud subsite within its wider Virtualization site, Microsoft is providing definitions of its on-premise and off-premise datacenter offerings. According to the site:

“Private Cloud - an internal service-oriented environment optimized for performance and cost that is deployed inside a customer’s datacenter. Powered by packaged server products including Windows Server and Microsoft System Center family of products, private cloud provides compatibility with existing applications.

“Public Cloud - provided by service providers and offering customers the ability to deploy and consume services. In this category, Azure is a highly scalable services platform providing pay–as-you-go flexibility delivered from Microsoft’s datacenters.”

While it may not be the Azure OS itself that Microsoft is providing to datacenter users who want to host their own data rather than having Microsoft or its partners do it for them, Microsoft is playing up the similarities between the on-premise and hosted approaches. The tag line from Microsoft’s cloud computing subsite:

“By providing tools that enable customers to manage their fabric and deliver services, Microsoft is providing customers the foundation for cloud computing.”

Do you think Microsoft is just rebranding its existing datacenter software as “private-cloud”-capable? Or does Microsoft’s private-cloud tools and software give it a leg up over Amazon and Google?

In related news, Microsoft is expected to unveil Azure pricing and licensing on Tuesday, July 14, at the Worldwide Partner Conference.

(Thanks to Oakleaf Systems’ Roger Jennings for the pointer to the Microsoft cloud information site.)

July 13th, 2009

Next-gen Microsoft Forefront security products get final names, pricing

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 11:27 am

Categories: Code names, Corporate strategy, Security, Utility/cloud computing, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Security, Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Corp., Pricing Strategy, Forefront Protection Suite, Microsoft Windows Active Directory, Groupware, Pricing, Directory Services

Forefront codename “Stirling” - the next generation of the Forefront Security Suite will be officially known as Forefront Protection Suite (FPS), the team announced at the Worldwide Partner Conference on July 13.

FPS includes all of the products in the existing suite, plus the Forefront Protection Manager (formerly known as the “Stirling” management console) and the Forefront Threat Management Gateway Web Security Service.

According to a new posting to the Forefront Team Blog:

“FPS pricing will remain the same as the current Forefront Security Suite and all of the component solutions will continue to be licensed on a subscription basis.  hey will also be available independently, with Forefront Protection Manager included. (Note that the Forefront Threat Management Gateway license is sold separately on a per processor basis.) “

A bunch of the point products in FPS are getting new names today, too.

* Forefront Client Security becomes Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010
* Forefront Security for Exchange Server becomes Forefront Protection 2010 for Exchange Server
* Forefront Security for SharePoint becomes Forefront Protection 2010 for SharePoint
* Forefront Online Security for Exchange becomes Forefront Online Protection for Exchange
* Next generation of ISA Server 2006 becomes Forefront Threat management Gateway Web Security Service

Microsoft is planning to ship the FPS suite and individual products gradually, rolling them out between the end of 2009 and the first half of 2010.

In other naming news, Microsoft has said “Geneva,” the next version of Active Directory Federation Services, will be known as Active Directory Federation Services (no surprise there). The Geneva Framework will be known as Windows Identity Foundation.

July 13th, 2009

Take two: Microsoft says business licensees to get Windows 7 bits on September 1

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 7:54 am

Categories: App Compatibility, Channel, Corporate strategy, OEMs, Resellers, System builders, Vista, Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows client, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Last week, it seemed Microsoft was going to make Windows 7 bits available to business customers with volume licensees right after the product was released to manufacturing in July.

But on July 13, Microsoft officials said business users with volume license agreements won’t be able to get the Windows 7 bits until September 1. Microsoft isn’t providing further information as to why customers will have to wait more than a month after RTM to get the final bits.

(Microsoft still hasn’t announced it has reached the RTM of Windows 7, but it is still expected to do so before the end of this month.)

What happened? Was  there a typo in the partner e-mail about which I reported last week? Was there a misunderstanding in the terms and conditions Microsoft was offering its users to get them to sign up for Software Assurance? A change in the company’s delivery plans? I asked Microsoft and didn’t receive an answer.

This is the statement I got via a spokesperson on July 13:

“As of September 1 our business customers will be able to order Windows 7 through our Volume Licensing partners to support their Windows 7 planning and deployment strategies. To help partners take advantage of the opportunity to upgrade businesses to Windows 7,  we will start a limited time, 6 month promotion of 15% or more off the price of the Windows 7 Professional upgrade compared to the Windows Vista price.”

I also asked when MSDN/TechNet would be able to download the final Windows 7 bits. The spokesperson said:

“We will provide an update on when MSDN/TechNet users can get the (Windows 7) bits, but we have nothing to share at this time.” (Microsoft amended this July 13 by saying that MSDN and TechNet subscribers will get Win 7  “a few weeks after” RTM.)

Update: Here’s some further clarification from Microsoft about how its existing Windows 7 volume-licensing offer is different from what was announced today:

Current SA offer: This is an offer to get Software Assurance, which includes rights to future upgrades, among other benefits.
* Timing: It ends on August 31. (Right before the new offer starts.)
* Offer: If a customer attaches software assurance to a new PC, that PC is eligible to upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise as soon as it is available. The offer is that we have 15% discount on the cost of software assurance. Any PC purchased with a qualifying operation system, such as Windows Vista Business, since July 31, 2008 is eligible.
* If a customer has PC that they purchased since July 31, 2008 this offer is the better deal because the cost is less and the customer gets Windows 7 Enterprise.

Today’s offer: This is an offer for an upgrade license to Windows 7 Professional purchased through Volume Licensing.
* Timing: It starts on September 1, when Windows 7 will debut on the VL price list. (Right before the other offer ends.)
* Offer: Get a discount of 15% or more on an upgrade to Windows 7 Professional.  Offer available for 6 months. Any PC with a qualifying operating system such as Windows Vista Business or Windows XP Professional is eligible, regardless of when it was purchased.

As several readers noted when I originally reported that business users were slated to get the final Windows 7 bits by the end of this month, most business users won’t be champing at the bit for the final Windows 7 bits. They’ll need to do planning, get deployment tools in place, check for compatibility and… of course, find the funds to buy the latest version of Windows.

A new survey of 1,000 companies by ScriptLogic Corp. found about 60 percent of those surveyed have no plans to deploy Windows 7, 34 percent will deploy it by the end of 2010 and only 5.4 percent will deploy by year’s end.

What’s your take? Will many business users be among the early adopters of Windows 7?

July 13th, 2009

Microsoft Office Web Apps: No test build until August

Posted by Mary Jo Foley @ 5:16 am

Categories: Corporate strategy, Office, Office 2010/Office 14, SharePoint Server, Worldwide Partner Conference (WWPC)

Tags: Web Application, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Office, Cloud Computing, Office Suites, Software, Mary Jo Foley

Many industry watchers were expecting July 13 to be Microsoft’s coming-out party for Office Web Applications, the company’s Web-centric version of its core Office apps (Word, Excel, poerPoint and OneNote) — and head-to-head competitor with Google Docs.

But there won’t be an Office Web Apps tech preview test build coming today. Or even later this week. Invited testers (and not the general public) have to wait until some time in August for the Microsoft-sanctioned Office Web Apps test build.

(An unsanctioned test build of Office 2010, which included the Web Apps, leaked a couple of months ago. Microsoft has not responded to my query as to whether the Office Web Apps build will be the same as the one that leaked in May or a more recent build.)

Microsoft officials first mentioned publicly Office Web Applications in October 2008 at the company’s Professional Developers Conference. Microsoft offered very few details about what kinds of functionality the Web Apps will deliver and not deliver. (Example: I’ve heard printing directly from and saving to those Apps won’t be possible without passing through SharePoint Server.)

At its Worldwide Partner Conference, which kicks off on July 13, the company is providing some additional details about its distribution plans for Office Web Apps.

As company officials said last year, Microsoft will offer both paid and free versions of Office Web Apps when they ship in the first half of 2010. Consumers will be able to get them for free by downloading them via from the combined Windows Live/Office Live service. Software Assurance customers will have the added option of running the Office Web Apps on premise, accessing their on-premise SharePoint Servers. And Office Web Apps also will be accessible as a set of Microsoft-hosted services (under the Microsoft Online brand).

Using Microsoft math, Microsoft execs are calculating — and touting — that Office Web Apps, once they ship in the first half of 2010, will “be available to up to half a billion customers.” They’ll be available for free to 400 million Windows Live consumers; available via Software Assurance to 90 million Office annuity customers; and to the remaining 510 million existing Office customers via Microsoft Online services.

Microsoft also is running a number of potential final names for Office Web Applications past its customers. in the running: Office Ensemble, Office Equipt, Office Optro, Office Offline and Office ArcLight.