Microsoft Office to go online — for free

CNN Reports an interesting wrinkle in the tug of war battle for internet supremacy. Apparently Microsoft is going to release a free web based version of the powerful and widely used office software.

With Google announcing that Chrome OS, a completely web based operating system, will be on the shelves in the fall of 2010, this is an interesting counter by Microsoft. Google has been somewhat of a pioneer in the Web 2.0 shift from static web content to fully functional web based software applications. It has been fun watching the sort of Old School vs New School battle of behemoths jocky for position.

Now that we are done with the Flash era (thank God) and newer technologies allow for lighter weight online apps, it’s going to be interesting watching the industry move from desktops to the web. Pretty soon everything is going to be hosted online and you will start to see the lines blurred between your laptop and your cell phone. If you think about BlackBerries and iPhones, the movement has already started. With VPN technology, you can literally work securely as if you were in your office from just about anywhere in the world… just ask this guy: