Bye BPOS, Hello Office 365 -- Redmondmag.com

Barney's Blog

Bye BPOS, Hello Office 365

I've been flummoxed over the years by how Microsoft changes its product names. First there is the code name, which is usually pretty cool -- Longhorn, Chicago, Avalon, etc. Then comes a boring name like Windows NT, then an equally boring name like Windows Server.

Maybe it is a coincidence, but in a recent newsletter I made fun of the last three letters in the BPOS acronym, which happens to stand for Business Productivity Online Suite. Yesterday Microsoft announced a new version with a new name -- Office 365. The new suite still includes SharePoint, Office Communication Server (to be called Lync) and Exchange (which, after replacing Microsoft Mail, has kept its name changes low these many years). What turns BPOS into Office 365 is the inclusion of Web revs of Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

The suite, now in beta, is set to ship next year.

Is this offering compelling, or should Redmond stick its cloud where the sun don't shine? You tell me at [email protected].

Posted by Doug Barney on 10/20/2010 at 1:18 PM

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