---
title: "Microsoft building a Web-based Office suite?"
date: 2005-10-27
author: "Richard MacManus"
categories:
  - name: "ReadWriteWeb"
    url: "/category/readwriteweb.md"
tags:
  - name: "2005"
    url: "/tag/2005.md"
---

# Microsoft building a Web-based Office suite?

[My latest ZDNet column](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315003114/http://blogs.zdnet.com/web2explorer/?p=41) is a potential doozy:

> Microsoft is leaping into hosted applications big time. [InformationWeek reports](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315003114/http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=172900624) that Microsoft plans to offer hosted implementations of SharePoint, CRM and ERP applications. But the best quote in that article was left till last. A “Microsoft insider” was asked which other products and services Microsoft would host and the reply was:  **“Everything. Hosted Office. Everything hosted.”**
> 
> Ahem, can anyone say [Web 2.0 Office](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315003114/http://blogs.zdnet.com/web2explorer/?p=20)? Exactly a month ago I wrote what turned out to be a very popular post entitled [The Web-based Office will have its day](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315003114/http://blogs.zdnet.com/web2explorer/?p=20). My main focus in that post was all of the small start-ups that are currently building web-based office apps. I forgot to mention that of course **there’s nothing stopping Microsoft from building their own Web 2.0 Office!** Perhaps that’s their only option to head off Google, because [Google Office](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315003114/http://www.kottke.org/04/04/google-operating-system) has been rumored to be around the corner for 1-2 years now… \[[Full Story at ZDNet](https://web.archive.org/web/20060315003114/http://blogs.zdnet.com/web2explorer/?p=41)\]

*Originally published on ReadWriteWeb ([archived copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20020204040018/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/microsoft_build.php))*