Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Microsoft to Lease Office

Author:Kip DeGraaf
Posted:11/10/1999; 7:20:20 AM
Topic:Microsoft to Lease Office
Msg #:12912 (In response to 12885)
Prev/Next:12911 / 12913

Something like that. The actual way it will work is rather scary. You essentially will be sending your data to an application server where Microsoft Office Web (or whatever they eventually call it) will be running. The software processes your work and displays the results back on your browser screen. It will be a little like X or VNC.

Yes, you'll be able to save your data locally, but it will have to travel to the server. Broadband doesn't exist widely enough to ever think about having the application actually travel down the wire to your computer. Of course, this means that an online replacement for Photoshop is unlikely to happen soon, too much data, too small a pipe.

Someone else who is getting there (they are not ready for primetime, still in beta, but I'm using it very successfully) is workspot.net. Check them out, they're using a Java version of VNC to hook you up to a persisent Linux desktop where you can run various applications, including office productivity software. Of course, there, your data resides on their server, but you have the advantage of getting at your work from any desktop with a working Java browser. Data is secured in transit with SSH, so snooping isn't high on the worry list.

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