Microsoft will soon release "Windows Cloud" OS

Microsoft will unveil what the so called "Windows Cloud." The OS will likely have a different name and is intended for developers writing cloud-computing applications. Cloud computing is a term often applied to programs that are presented in a Web browser, but the actual computing is performed at a distant data center.

Windows Cloud is a separate project from Windows 7, the OS Microsoft is developing to succeed Windows Vista.

 

Microsoft, which has built its fortunes on desktop-based software, has been anxious to show it also has plans for adapting its software for the Internet.

Microsoft doesn't envision products such as the Office productivity suite to move entirely off desktop PCs and onto the Internet.But Microsoft is working on a service that would let people do "light editing" of Office documents at places such as a public Internet kiosk.

MS is developing online components for many of its products such as its SharePoint collaboration software; the Exchange e-mail server and its Dynamics Customer Relationship Management software.

It calls its strategy "software plus services," where its core applications are augmented by Web-based functionality.

Microsoft has been facing increasing pressure from Google, which offers a Web-based productivity suite called Google Docs and Spreadsheets. Steve Ballmer (Microsoft's CEO) was dismissive of Google, saying Docs and Spreadsheets has "relatively low usage" and that users want richer features in an office software package.