Just when Valleywag has proclaimed that use of the Internet two.0 cliche is around the downswing, Microsoft publishes a whitepaper explaining how Workplace 2007 definitely is actually a Internet two.0 suite at heart.Several industry watchers think it's only a matter of time until Microsoft throws in the towel and turns Office into a Web-based suite. Microsoft officials have been adamant that such a move isn't likely in the foreseeable future — although there's a distinct possibility that Microsoft could take its consumer Office suite, Microsoft Works, to the Web, in the not-so-distant future. In spite of Microsoft execs' continued belief that the shrink-wrapped Office suite is not dead,
Windows 7 Serial, Microsoft isn't immune from wanting to cash in about the Internet 2.0 hype.Microsoft published the new whitepaper,
Microsoft Office 2010 Pro, entitled "Bringing Web 2.0 to the Enterprise along with the 2007 Workplace System,
Office Home And Student," in mid-December. Microsoft's definition of Internet 2.0, predictably, isn't fairly the same as others'. Here's how Microsoft is positioning Office 2007 to fit in: "Properly understood and deployed, Internet 2.0 technologies, methods, and patterns is often adopted by the enterprise to great effect. They can boost overall organizational productivity and create a much stronger customer and partner connection. To capitalize on this opportunity, enterprises require an agile infrastructure along with the tools and out-of-the-box solutions that allow users to interact with content, applications, and people in powerful new ways." Office 2007 "enables rich online business solutions that embody the following set of Internet two.0 characteristics,
Windows 7 Ultimate Key," the whitepaper continues: • Rich user experience • Data-driven architecture • User-driven small business applications • User participation • Collective intelligence • Low cost deployment and management What's Office 2007 got that qualifies? XML support; Ajax-based components (Excel Services and InfoPath Forms Services, Outlook Internet Access, and Communicator Internet Access); the ability to expose RSS feeds for data; enterprise search capabilities; metadata services; collaborative workspaces; and integrated workflow functionality — something Microsoft admits isn't usually thought of as a Web 2.0 technology, but which can be a Internet two.0 enabler, in Microsoft's view. Meanwhile, I'm starting to hear some rumors about new features in "Office 14," the next version of Office,
Office 2010 Home And Student, that sound more traditionally Internet two.0-like. Anyone else hearing any rumblings on that front?