Microsoft Corp is making its biggest move into the mobile, Internet-accessible world of "cloud" computing, as it takes the wraps off a revamped online version of its hugely profitable Office software suite. The company is heaving its two-decade old set of applications -including Outlook email, Excel spreadsheets and SharePoint collaboration tools - into an online format so that customers can use them on a variety of devices from wherever they can get an Internet connection.
It wants to push back against Google Inc, which has stolen a small but worrying percentage of its corporate customers with cheaper, web-only alternatives, which remove the need for companies to spend time on installing software or managing servers.
Microsoft shares rose to 3.7 per cent, the largest gain in a single trading day since September, partly buoyed by hopes that it can ultimately boost profits by extending its software dominance to the growing cloud sector. The company has offered online versions of some Office programs - chiefly Outlook email - for its corporate customers for several years, and last year rolled out free versions for individual home users.
