Web 2.0-Pt7: Perpetual Beta

Office 365 is Microsoft's move to transform their Office Productivity software into perpetual beta stage. This is an on-line version of Microsoft Office having all the software including Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Project, and other software part of the Office Suite. Office 365 also makes it easy to share documents online and work on the documents as a part of a team. With this move Microsoft has made a "perpetual beta" version of its Office productivity suite. Users will no longer need to update each version of their office software.

More companies are moving to Perpetual Beta versions of their software, which benefits both the vendors and also the consumers. Vendors can earn more from subscription based service to access their software, and Consumers can save on not having to upgrade to new versions, maintenance of systems, upgrading hardware to support new versions of software and also save on storage costs as most of the Perpetual beta software provide online storage options.

New features may be added to Microsoft Office 365, this is reflected by addition of communication and simultaneous access through workspace creation using Sharepoint. This feature is not available in the normal Microsoft Office software suite. By enabling online access and ability add new features to their software Microsoft have the ability to provide these new options at an additional or part of their package of Office 365.

Microsoft may also directly gain valuable user feedback and user experience from the users of Office 365. Changes can be made to one centralized system and can be reflected to all users. High availability and ease of usability are the main advantages of Office 365.

Online provision of the Microsoft Office suite also ensures security, licensing also becomes easier and only authorised subscribers can access Office 365. Losses with respect to pirated versions of the software are eliminated due to online management and access control of Office 365. This would result in lesser losses and more revenue to companies like Microsoft who provide perpetual beta versions of their software.