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Microsoft prepares 'Albany' to compete with Google Docs

infoworld.com — Facing pressure from hosted productivity suites like Google Docs and Google Apps, Microsoft is planning a new package of low-end productivity software and hosted services through a secretive project code-named Albany.

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  • shapovalenko, on 03/27/2008, -2/+16Nice code name from MS. Albany, hello ;)
  • rpi22, on 03/27/2008, -7/+35Have you ever been to Albany? It kinda sucks...
    • sholt, on 03/27/2008, -1/+5Aw, c'mon! Albany's got the Egg! How can you beat the Egg?!
      • Earlsports, on 03/27/2008, -2/+16A whisk.
        • maninalift, on 03/27/2008, -1/+9No you whisk an egg with a whisk. Beat an egg with a fork.
      • DuffyDirect, on 03/27/2008, -1/+2you can beat the egg with a theater that actually has decent shows instead of a dozen high school graduations in the spring...
    • linagee, on 03/27/2008, -1/+6So will this.
    • kiiwii, on 03/27/2008, -4/+3Buried, Albany rules!

      The city isn't the best in the world, but the Capital District is a great place to live.
      • DuffyDirect, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3yeah if youre a glutton for obnoxious people and slum lords!
    • Chewie67, on 03/27/2008, -3/+1Anyone who thinks Albany sucks hasn't been there.
    • gthrank, on 03/27/2008, -1/+5Just "kinda"? No - Albany TRULY sucks.
  • Barbarino, on 03/27/2008, -5/+18Not sure how they plan on making money with office in the next 5 years. Seems like it's going bye bye. I work for a large company (fortune 1000), and we use 10% of what office is capable of, it's not that we don't know how to use it, we have no need to use it.
    • EtherGnat, on 03/27/2008, -1/+10Nobody uses Office for more than 10 or 15% of what it is capable of, but everybody uses a different set of features. Microsoft might lose market share in the home and small business market, but I don't think it's going anywhere on the corporate desktop in the next five years.
    • pcpimpster, on 03/27/2008, -0/+2I've tried to cut the need for MS Office here and there but being a 100 person company with 2 IT guys (I'm the only developer) - we need MS office to fill in the gaps. I dont see MS Office going away, I do hate the fact they changed file types in the 2007 version and it breaks some old code which was working perfectly for the 2003 APIs. That has halted updating until I can get to all the changes but that will cost MS not us.
      Job security for me... I suppose.

    • elpohl, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1Well, unless you start replacing that 10% of usage with something else, MS is happy having you as a customer.
  • lbmouse, on 03/27/2008, -12/+18New MS slogan - "Innovation Through Imitation"
    • bosssmiley, on 03/27/2008, -3/+4New MS slogan "+1, me too." Oops, meta-commentary. :-)
    • ElbertF, on 03/27/2008, -3/+25Wasn't Google Docs a Microsoft Word imitation in the first place?
      • Kamujin, on 03/27/2008, -2/+17When Microsoft borrows ideas, it's imitation.
        When Google borrows ideas, it's innovation.
        When Apple borrows ideas, it's invention.
        • freedomknight, on 03/27/2008, -2/+3You just got "Retard of Redmond" award.
    • eclipse007, on 03/27/2008, -2/+9To add to ElbertF's comment, wasn't it Microsoft who invented XMLHTTPRequest (AJAX) in the first place?!
      If it wasn't for MS, there would have been no GMail, Google Docs, etc.
      • Kamujin, on 03/27/2008, -1/+4Shhh, its cool to bash Microsoft don't you know? Stop telling the other side of the story. People might learn something.
      • heavyal, on 03/27/2008, -2/+4Not to put to fine a point on it, but Microsoft's implementation was called XMLHTTP and was originally made for working with web data via Outlook 2000. The Mozilla project incorporated the first native implementation of XMLHTTPRequest into their browser (Mozila 1.0) in 2002. Since then a full standards based API has been set in place by the W3C as of 2006 though as of December 2007 the API is still not 100% complete. So yeah, MS came up with the concept but as usual it was left up to third parties to create a malleable structure that could be easily implemented across all platforms. (a lot of more interesting info can be found at the wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMLHttpRequest)
        • kretik, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1> Not to put to fine a point on it
          No, that's OK. This is Microsoft after all, there are nitpicks for anything positive related to what they do. Don't try to nitpick anything related to Linux, Google, Apple, etc. because then you're a Microsoft apologist.
      • freedomknight, on 03/27/2008, -1/+2Yes of course, thats the first and last mistake they did.
    • mindracer, on 03/27/2008, -3/+2or acquisition
    • jabberwolf, on 03/27/2008, -2/+2Yeah cause Microsoft never had anything do to with Office applications or WORD processors.
      GEESH - who was copying who ??
  • mokodo, on 03/27/2008, -6/+3microsoft is always looking up other companies and trying to replicate what they have, i.e. netscape, google, nintendo, whatever. This are from the same company that said in 94 that multimedia would be the next 'thing' and internet was 'nothing'.
    • pcpimpster, on 03/27/2008, -3/+5"the internet was nothing" - wasnt Windows 95 the first OS to connect the masses to the internet... I wouldnt call that taking a "nothing" approach
      • freedomknight, on 03/27/2008, -2/+4Yes Yes remember, But what can you do with AOL icon in any country other than US ?
        • pcpimpster, on 03/27/2008, -2/+1I used Prodigy, IBM Dialup, Compuserve, etc. etc. etc. Dont blame Windows because your country didnt have internet providers. It only makes sense though... the US military did invent the the ip protocal for the base of the internet. That still has nothing to do with Windows and using it to access the internet. 95 would connect to the net in any country... well - with the net.
          • freedomknight, on 03/27/2008, -1/+3So could Linux, UNIX, mac or novel netware. But you were saying that windows 95 was the only reason internet is here. I strongly disagree on that. Please count Microsoft web servers on internet without parked domains.
          • pcpimpster, on 03/28/2008, -2/+1So you think "the masses" is Linux, Unix or ... what is (Nov...) now Linux... was the beginning of the mass injection of the internet and surrounding services? Why didn’t those ultra great OSes with superior usability take over our tubes then?? 90+
  • pr0gr4mm3r, on 03/27/2008, -15/+1100 Diggs & 6 Comments = Front Page?
    • sint4x, on 03/27/2008, -1/+7Thank you, Mr. Obvious
    • ElbertF, on 03/27/2008, -1/+13OMG you figured out the algorithm.
    • UnWeave, on 03/27/2008, -1/+8Why does someone always have to make this same comment. STFU, NO ONE CARES.
    • Wartz, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3you must be new here.
  • TimDigg, on 03/27/2008, -2/+9But does it compete with Zoho?

    http://www.zoho.com/

    If MS released a web based free MS Project or MS Visio

    they would make a fortune....Even if it was just a bastardized MS visio that only did diagram and wouldn't convert schemes in SQL.....just a diagramming tool would be big
    • blakeage, on 03/27/2008, -1/+5Zoho rules...not sure what else to say, except that I was thrilled to find that I didn't have to buy MS Excel to do my budgeting.
      • soupnumber5, on 03/27/2008, -0/+2zoho rocks. I use ZOHO CRM and it's just a nice affordable solution vs shelling cash for Salesforce. There other office apps are nice as well. Worth checking out. If only they had ZOHO MAIL...

        damn...
      • mahdaeng, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1OOo FTW!
    • troydoogle7, on 03/27/2008, -3/+1Lol If they released a free Visio.... they would make a fortune.... Please explain.......you have violated all laws of business......
    • troydoogle7, on 03/27/2008, -2/+5Release free !== fortune.....

      How can you make a fortune, if you release it free? Advertising, google adwords? Donationware?

      Oh wait you must work for a venture cap company........want to buy some bear sterns shares?
    • javaroast, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1This is java based not web based, but works well for basic diagrams http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_about.html
    • cfurlin, on 03/28/2008, -0/+0I use Zoho every day -- it is clearly the best set of apps on the Web.
  • davewashere, on 03/27/2008, -4/+28If it's anything like Albany, NY, this app will be bloated, drunk, and altogether miserable.
    • sholt, on 03/27/2008, -4/+16Just be glad they didn't choose "Troy"
    • jabberwolf, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1So like Google would be very liberal, loud, and shiny, but really not have an function, use, or any document production.
  • liquidmetalband, on 03/27/2008, -5/+3Fundemental problems: (1) piracy on Office, (2) people don't want their precious files owned by ***** Microsoft and Google.
  • sint4x, on 03/27/2008, -2/+7Well if Microsoft is trying to replicate Google, then maybe the web will get better.
  • Sizzor, on 03/27/2008, -3/+10If it's anything like the state government in Albany, it will only work 12 days a year and cost a fortune. High-priced hookers sold separately.
  • orb_nsc, on 03/27/2008, -3/+5I like Google products as much as anyone else, but it won't be too hard for Microsoft to be a strong competitor to Google Docs. Have you actually tried to print a document written in Google Docs? It sucks. The margins, the fonts, the whole layout just doesn't look right. I end up doing a copy/paste into MS Word and printing from there. The only real advantage to Google Docs is that you can edit a document easily from different locations (work/home/etc) and share it with others, and I'm sure Microsoft will figure that part out.
  • mancat, on 03/27/2008, -5/+4That's great, but I don't use Google Docs, I don't know anybody who uses Google Docs, and those who do know about it didn't seem very thrilled with the idea.

    Maybe this is Google's new strategy? "Let's make something stupid and market it just enough to get Microsoft to drop their ball and try to copy our dumb ideas."
    • freedomknight, on 03/27/2008, -0/+4Sire, we apologize for disturbing you, Just continue your cave paintings.
    • zombies187, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1It's hard to enjoy computers if you can't save stuff. People who don't have comptuers can enjoy saving all kinds of things with online apps like this. Messing with drives, even flash drives, is a barrier that I would do with out if I could.
  • JasonCox, on 03/27/2008, -7/+3I have yet to meet one person who has used Google Docs and actually had something nice to say about it; yes, this product suite might be useful if you're on the road or on your iPhone and need to view/edit something, but pretty much every computer sold today comes with *some* form of office productivity suite that is far superior to any web application. That and I don't trust *any* company to store my docs.
    • bbqsalad, on 03/27/2008, -1/+5I use Google Docs, Cal, Spreadsheets and Gmail everyday.. And love them. They allow me to work on my stuff from work, home, laptop.
      • kretik, on 03/27/2008, -2/+1Your needs must be very simple. That's fine, and that's the niche that Google Docs are supposed to fill. That's a productivity segment for which MS Office is completely overkill.
    • proverbs17, on 03/27/2008, -1/+2I use Google Docs and I like it.
    • zetsurin, on 03/27/2008, -1/+4Hello, my name is Zetsurin> Pleased to meet you. I use google docs almost daily and think it's brilliant.

      There, no longer can you claim to have never personally met anyone who like google docs.
  • C0leBurns, on 03/27/2008, -5/+5Albany = "low-end productivity" -sounds about right
  • Midtowner, on 03/27/2008, -0/+6I've tried Google Docs. I can say that it would be an awesome app for taking class notes with if the formatting wasn't such crap.

    Put in margins, outlining and an autotext feature and we're in business.
  • Wakuko, on 03/27/2008, -7/+4$1 bet this project will be renamed, Albany sucks donkey balls

    And so does M$
    • kretik, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1Maybe they'll rename it to Wakuko, though that sounds like a type of genital infection. Wakuko$ would be hilarious though, just like your creative spelling that stopped being funny in 1997.
    • jabberwolf, on 03/27/2008, -1/+2That's quite a vivid metaphor, you speak from experience?
  • bbqsalad, on 03/27/2008, -2/+3MS should stop wasting there ***** time on these services.,, They will never beat Google.. How about working on your failing ***** OS first? Perhaps start over and make some clean code that works properly.
  • jimfin25, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1I wonder why they chose albany.
  • zetsurin, on 03/27/2008, -0/+4Microsoft's new slogan

    "Where do you want to go yet again today?"
  • t3rmv3locity, on 03/27/2008, -0/+5Too bad they are probably going to charge 50$ a month for the service
  • zmigliozzi, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3Picking on this a little too late.
  • Billiam627, on 03/27/2008, -0/+2Dugg for Capital Region refrence. Go UALBANY!!!!
  • whalt, on 03/27/2008, -1/+1In addition to Albany for business they will start an internet dating site called Client Number Nine.
  • robfitzonbass, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1It won't be Albany without The Egg:
    http://www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/empiresp/egg.jp ...
  • cipicip, on 03/27/2008, -4/+2Q: How can you stop an Albanian tank?
    A: You shoot the soldier that is pushing it.

    Q: Why is there a rubber-band shortage in Albania?
    A: They're saving it for their satellite launch.

    Q: Why do Albanian submarines surface every five minutes?
    A: To let the oarsmen breathe.
    • lazlonger, on 03/27/2008, -0/+5are you retarded? Albania and Albany...not the same thing.
      • sholt, on 03/27/2008, -1/+3...though, it's hard to tell just by looking.


        BA-ZING!
  • anchorman, on 03/27/2008, -3/+3Microsoft copying ideas from others? Is that news to anyone?
  • lazlonger, on 03/27/2008, -0/+3the last secretive program coming out of Albany ended up ending a Governor's career....once again Microsoft is too clever by half.
  • DuffyDirect, on 03/27/2008, -1/+5if its anything like albany, ny there'll be plenty of corrupt files
  • SniperSlap, on 03/27/2008, -2/+2Once again, Microsoft is playing catch-up with the rest of the industry on new ideas.
  • bradleyland, on 03/27/2008, -1/+2Just what I've been waiting for in an online office suite. Since this is MS developed, I can tell you exactly where it is headed:

    "The feature you have requested is not available in the free version of Office Online. Click here to learn (pay) more!"
  • JJBrad2323, on 03/27/2008, -2/+1Microsoft needs to focus on creating an OS that is dependable, not another half-assed, "keeping up with Google" project.

    google>MS
    • Galume, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1THAT is precisely the problem at MS. It isn't that they don't have good people or the capacity to create rock-solid products...it's the corporates weasels at the managerial level who insist on monitizing and re-monitizing their product. It leads to bloatware, ads, and mal-designed products.
  • allah6464, on 03/27/2008, -0/+0Got an invite for this a few days ago. Virtually no details were given about what "Albany" is, but there's an interesting description visible in the Connect directory after applying for the beta:

    http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/2184/albanypi3. ...
    • allah6464, on 03/27/2008, -0/+0Haha, looks like someone at Microsoft noticed this and removed it. Checked again today, and now it just says "Albany is a new exciting product from Microsoft."
  • LOVEANDEQUALITY, on 03/27/2008, -2/+1GOOGLE IS THE BEST!
  • EEdesigner, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1"...Microsoft is planning a new package of low-end productivity software..." Isn't the pairing of "Microsoft" and "low-end" redundant? When has that group O'clowns ever done anything considered "high end"?
  • pgreen0420, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1Albany is also the name of the new Bahama mega resort that is currently under construction. Two of the major investors... Tiger Woods and Ernie Els
    http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/15648783/
  • Michaelism, on 03/27/2008, -2/+0I hate Google Docs. I don't know any one who likes and uses Google gocs...
    • calculon1, on 03/29/2008, -0/+0It has potential, but it is a mess and somewhat painful to use. Try having a few people work on and update a doc simultaneously in Google Docs.. yikes.
  • ajmontag, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1dugg for the printer friendly view
  • Bicep, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1What are the odds that this new software will only work(with full feature set) with IE installed on Windows? Sort of like their crappy OWA email application for ES2007 and/or Office Live.
  • Bicep, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2Yep Google Docs Rocks, or OpenOffice.org, or Lotus Symphony, or KOffice, or even Zoho. Anything that uses an Open and REAL standard of saving documents is the one for my future. Express your documents into digital and ALWAYS de-cryptable format for FREE, that's what computing technology is all about. Down with the Microsoft tax on computer software, humans have progressed.
  • brahmeswar, on 04/01/2008, -0/+0digg for the printer friendly view
  • hcamelion, on 05/08/2008, -0/+0I like everything google does but I do admit I don't have a need for google docs. That's funny I hate almost everything Microsoft does. I wonder why they named it Albany. Kind of random.
    http://www.weismannweb.com
  •  

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