Enterprise Applications: Microsoft Office 2010, SharePoint 2010 Offer New Tools for Businesses

Microsoft releases another flagship software platform, Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010, to businesses on May 12. Regular customers will be able to purchase the software in June. While Microsoft continues to own the lion's share of the productivity-software business, it faces new challenges from cloud-based productivity software such as Google Apps. To combat that threat, Office 2010 not only includes a stripped-down, free Web component (accessible to Windows Live subscribers) but a variety of new features designed to make its applications more powerful and essential. In addition to a wide range of minor tweaks, Office 2010 includes major end-user adjustments such as customizable themes and graphics for creating colorful documents, Microsoft Office Backstage for streamlining many commands, and the ability to leverage user-generated BI solutions. Some businesses may be giving cloud-based productivity a serious look, but Microsoft is hoping that this new offering will show that desktop-based software is still king. For now.