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. 

Web 2.0-Pt6: Software above the level of a Single Device

Software beyond the level of a single device is the way of the future. This falls under the category of Ubiquitous Computing. According to Weiss and Craiger (2002) the concept of Ubiquitous Computing involves surrounding ourselves with "computers and software that are carefully tuned to offer us unobtrusive assistance as we navigate through our work and personal lives". They define Ubiquitous Computing as a "new genre of computing in which the computer permeates the life of the user".

As discussed by Sirius Panahi (2012) "The PC is no longer the only access device for Internet applications: and it is necessary to develop software or applications that are cross device compatible. One such application would be Dropbox the popular file sharing application. This software enables users to access any files stored on their account through online, computer and smartphones. The software is compatible with Apple's Mobile Software the IOS, Google's Android and even the latest Windows Phone 7. Updates are released to support more devices to ensure cross platform compatibility. File sharing and access through Dropbox is easy and is free for personal use. Users may create an account online at www.dropbox.com and more usage is allocated if others are referred to use Dropbox. Dropbox software has a unified look and feel across all platforms. Once files are uploaded they are synchronised across all registered devices and requires no advanced technical knowledge to operate.

The ease of usability, access, cross device compatibility makes Dropbox an excellent example along with other softwares like Skydrive from Microsoft, Google Drive from Google, and iCloud from Apple. All these softwares are cross device compatible except iCloud which only works on Apple devices. The following cycle shows the current use of applications that are cross device compatible and how ubiquitous computing will affect the common user in the future.

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