What we know as Microsoft Office is quickly coming to an end. As more and more applications hit the cloud and become universally available, compatible, and always-on, the client side version of Microsoft Office is bound to come to an early end. Although Office will live on for many more years on older computers, diehard fans, and stubborn upgraders, Microsoft Office’s online presence will become increasingly more important and embraced by the software giant.
Your Computer 10 Years Later
Why would a user rely on a local version of Office which can only be accessed at home, on a Windows system, when they could securely gain access to their files anywhere, regardless of the OS, location, or computer? Online applications are becoming more and more convenient and adopters are not complaining. Even my mother, attending a technical college for a medical coding degree, is now supplied with an online Beta of Outlook for her student email, allowing her to check and respond to email at school, home, or work. Students and employees using computers that are outdated or simply not upgraded to the latest version can instead opt to log into the online version of Microsoft Word to interact with their documents, something that only non-Microsoft products such as Google Docs could supply in the past.
The online version of Office may also help Microsoft to combat piracy by requiring a login and identification for each user. This could help drive down prices for the extremely expensive suite, making it yet more available and widespread as consumers who could not previously afford the suite may find themselves finally being given the option to use Office. Microsoft would also have a much more live platform, something where a minor update or service pack can instantly, seamlessly be pushed out to the world without requiring any user interaction whatsoever.
The online version of Microsoft Office may hail a future in which almost, if not all, Microsoft products are in the cloud. Who is to say that Windows 9 or 10 may not eerily resemble Google’s new Chromium OS, boasting a stronger, continuous online presence? Although some users reject the cloud because of the potential security risks, if its marketed and convenient, an internet-based Microsoft Office suite will plow its way through the online world.
I reckon that cloud computing does have cons. If the user’s internet connection is not available for whatever reason, how are they supposed to do their work? If the cloud service is unavailable, experiences any form of data loss (including security attacks with hackers stealing user’s data or altering it as another example), then how much productivity loss or trouble could that user be in?
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen some excellent cloud demonstrations (like ghost for example, which is pretty much a desktop in the cloud) as well at the same time that put an emphasis on a user’s computer crashing but their clouded desktop/app will be completely independent of their computer, therefore eliminating various types of computer issues (hardware/software/OS faults etc) causing data loss to the user on their local machine. You can also subvert the risk of security holes in client software (which office gets patched for obviously) with clouded apps in addition to having all your data in one place, as opposed to people carrying around USB flash disks and losing them + the valuable data on them (obviously any corporate network has a policy on USB flash drives, most of the time though employees overlook things like this however at first)
I myself however would want local client software like office on my machines for a number of reasons however. There are some pretty unique features in office that I use most of the time that make me accustom to using it. There are times when my internet connection also might not be available to me and that I’d like to continue my work as well. If you could most average users though to move to a web based version of a word processor, with a similar or familiar interface, then it obviously helps a lot on a pc or for a person where office suites are not installed or owned.
If we were to think about how corporate networks work at the moment, they are sort of in a way similar to cloud-like functions. Apps can be shared among client PCs on a server or deployed locally if preferred, user’s data is stored on a server rather than the local machine (although that function can be cached in active directory on the client machine). A server going down though obviously can have disastrous consequences for the length of time its unavailable.
If some clouded apps had syncing options/functions for apps used on smart phones or a different client application, then perhaps I’d be a bit more inclined to consider using them.
My uncle has just started to use Google docs as opposed to office, which my aunt still uses only for outlook and looking at power point files she gets in email attachments. It’ll come in much benefit to my uncle since he’ll be looking at getting a netbook with a 3g connection in the near future so he can keep his quotes, receipts/invoices in order (He’s a carpenter, so if the netbook were to have hardware issues and its a given that it will happen in this kind of construction site environment, his data should be safe)
I’m just not sold on the cloud computing thing yet, but I do see the benefits. I use Google Doc’s & Outlook webmail only when I absolutely need to, but I certainly prefer the local software versions for everyday, heavy use. I certainly don’t wanna move to a cloud OS anytime soon.
The “Cloud” has been around for like, 30 years, it’s not new or anything interesting, in fact in the beginning, most corporations used the “cloud”; at the time, it was called a Workstation. I’m sure all the technarati love this “new” concept. “You mean, I can carry a client like a Macbook Air? I don’t have to have a harddrive? All my apps can be run from the ‘internet’?” Yeah, in theory that all sounds amazing, people love Gmail and google apps but I’m just not a fan, here’s why.
In my computer history class, we looked up the prehistoric days of computing, I got to see old harddrive platters (As big as a car tire!) and we evn had to do some reading and research. According to one of the interesting textbooks and site my Professor offered there was this nugget in 1974 “Researchers at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center came up with Alto, which was the first workstation with an inbuilt mouse. It had a fair amount of storage capacity and offered menus and icons. It could also connect to a network.” http://www.buzzle.com/articles/computer-history-full-timeline.html Let me tell you, back then I was like ‘Wow, seriously? People had to ‘purchase’ time to use a mainframe? That’s so archaic!’ Archaic? Yes. Profitable? Hell Yeah!! Funny thing is, they didnt realize how long term profitable it was. You could sell desktops for more money upfront and be done with the consumer, then flash forward like 30 years and suddenly… Subscriptions are the way to go! As a consumer I hate a subscription, I like a product in my hands, not to mention if you dont control your data, it can be altered, encryption or not. I’ve been on sites where a news story was ‘corrected’ or ‘pulled’ and all trace of the old version was erased, without notice, imagine a world where there are no hard copies, no thanks, I like my quaint, antiquated, slightly cryptic desktop, it’s mine, the data’s mine, the records are mine, and as long as it’s not hacked or formatted the truth/facts/data, whether accurate or my interpretation is mine. Citing security is just whining by lazy people, the same people that would whine if the government were to put in place laws to “make” you be responsible, rather outsource their responsibility, it’s pretty sad and kinda pathetic.
the fish is too big
Cloud computing is good for fun! And only! Do you think Pentagon will use it ? Or the government? Everything about us would be available to some authorities if they needed. The shops know what we eat (club-cards), the transport know where we go (oyster cards), mobile companies know how we call (mobile phones). Why don’t we place web cams at home for Big Brother to watch as even there and then put best clips on reality show? I would use it but only for fun of it… Period.
cloud computing is just not for me, thank you. and no, I’d rather carry a flash disk around. This is embarrasing, but I still use floppy too from time to time.
i can’t trust some company store my data. I can’t afford of being hacked into. Even just a small thing – my e-mail was hacked a few days ago – gave me a big headache. While of course I admit that the data in my own computer is not secure, it is at least better. When someone tried to hack it, I just simply disconnect from internet.
Besides, who can rely on internet connection “completely” nowadays. Not me for sure. Internet connection is still unstable.
No thanks. I want to lose my own data.
The idea that I would trust any company, especially a US company with no Data Protection legislation and a propensity to hand over data to Uncle Sam without blinking an eye, is ridiculous.
“…the report of my death was an exaggeration.” -Mark Twain
I just do not see a cloud taking over my data.