Is Silverlight Microsoft’s gateway to web-based Office?
By Triston McIntyre
Silverlight, Microsoft’s recently debuted web platform, has a whole lot of potential relatively untapped at this time. In fact, Silverlight could be Microsoft’s “in” to the web. If Silverlight really has the potential some believe it to, and if Microsoft is really looking to get with the times, could Microsoft be preparing to release a web-based version of the Office productivity suite to the world?
I was doing a bit of light daily reading and stumbled across this opinion-editorial piece by writer Chris Saad at his personal blog Paying Attention. Though a bit off-topic, let me take this moment to say that some of the best speculations and observances are made by those other than folks that write for the “big” sites. Keep that in mind.
Back to the matter at hand, I read a post by Saad about a very interesting use Silverlight could be put to. Saad suggests that Silverlight would be a perfect way for Microsoft to release Office to the public in web-based format.
In theory it sounds like Microsoft’s solution to achieving web presence; Microsoft would increase Silverlight adoption exponentially, boost ad revenue from the increased traffic, and generally “sell” the platform in full force to the public.
Frankly I don’t see any better way for Microsoft to go about achieving web presence than by debuting a web-based Office through Silverlight. The only problem is that I don’t think Microsoft could ever get behind that idea.
Releasing Office on the internet would be the smart thing for Microsoft to do. Saad suggests that users of all platforms could get into Office, even users of the iPhone’s Safari browser, if Microsoft was willing to make it available.
Doing so would require Microsoft letting go of the for-profit model on which Microsoft has a strangle hold right now. Umpteen versions of Windows and Office at different price points on the market right now don’t seem to indicate Microsoft is willing to throw aside the old profit-based model for the new open social way of things.
You can be sure that if Microsoft were to ever release Office on Silverlight, the sales of software-based Office would plummet, which is more or less common sense. Even now many users prefer Google apps due to the appealing price point. However, releasing Office on Silverlight would leave Microsoft relying on sales of Windows, which is a lot to ask of the software giant that is in the middle of trying to promote a failing Vista and develop Windows 7.
Releasing Office on Sliverlight would be a fanastic idea, but I don’t see it happening until cows fly.
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