• NY Times, Wednesday, November 2, 2005 10:58 AM

The New York Times weighs in on the overhaul at Microsoft, where the company is moving most of its core software online. The company's new Web-based offerings, the portal Live.com, Windows Live and Office Live, are a direct response to competitors Google and Yahoo! For a company that built its empire on paid software apps, Web-based software is a big departure, because consumers will no longer be locked into Microsoft applications like Office, free now to choose from the services of competitors. The programs will also be largely ad-supported, charging only for premium features and service--another departure for the company, which has relied in the past on Yahoo! subsidiary Overture Services to deliver search advertising. Microsoft will now be relying much more heavily on Internet ad revenues and the efficiency of adcenter, its new advertising platform, currently being tested in France and Singapore. The reformed software giant is also unveiling a new Internet mail service and an updated version of its instant messaging platform that will include voice-over-Internet-protocol capabilities.

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