Microsoft has announced that the next version of Office, in line with various other cloud computing initiatives, will offer lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote that will be available for use in web browsers, called Office Web applications.
This is likely a result of the huge popularity of Google Docs. Microsoft will be playing catchup in this market, and from the press release, it looks like there will be both ad-funded (free) and subscription services. The question I'm wondering is where the docs will be stored. There will surely be some storage attached to the service, I'm guessing around 2-5G. What would really be great would be a tie-in with Live Mesh. If I could have a Mesh folder to store all my Office Web documents in, I could open them not just on any of my own PC's, Macs, or Windows Mobile phones, but on any computer with a web browser anywhere in the world. So keep that in mind Microsoft.
Below are some initial screenshots of the offering. Click for hi-res versions.
