MS Office Web Apps Monday

Microsoft's Monday event should mark a more formal debut for the company's Office Web suite, tipsters said on Thursday. Although announced nine months ago, the suite is now said by Neowin to be getting a demonstration. It's not known if Microsoft will commit to a public release at the gathering.

Office Web is intended as a higher-end competitor to Google Docs and replicates as much as possible of the offline versions of Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Word in a browser. Integration is its most important feature and will ultimately let users export work to the web and share it with Windows Mobile or other PCs. Casual users should have free ad-based access, but there will also be a subscription-based version intended for serious regular users or workplaces.

The company should also provide details of its beta testing program for Office 2010, a Windows-only release meant as a companion for Windows 7.

By Electronista Staff