Microsoft yesterday escalated its battle with arch rival Google, reacting to an assault on one of its core businesses with the announcement of a free online version of its widely used Office software, to be launched next year.

微软(Microsoft)昨日升级了与劲敌谷歌(Google)之间的争斗。微软宣布，将于明年推出使用广泛的Office软件的免费网络版，从而对自己的核心业务之一受到攻击做出回应。

While likely to take only a small bite out of Office revenues in the short term, the move represents one of the most radical steps yet by Microsoft as it tries to refocus its software business around the internet, according to analysts.

分析师表示，虽然此举在短期内可能只会略微损及Office的收入，却是微软迄今最为激进的举措之一。微软正试图将其软件业务的重心，转移到以互联网为平台。

Users of the free online Office will be able to create and edit documents, spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations by using tools they are familiar with from the desktop software. Although only a “lightweight” version of the software, to make it more suitable for use in internet browsers, it would still provide a fuller service than online rivals such as Google Apps, said Stephen Elop, head of Microsoft's Business Division.

免费网络版Office的用户将可以创建和编辑文件、电子表格和PowerPoint演示文件，运用他们熟悉的工具，一如桌面版Office。微软商业部门总裁斯蒂芬•埃洛普(Stephen Elop)表示，虽然只是这款软件的“轻量级”版本（使之更为适合在网络浏览器上使用），但其提供的服务仍会比Google Apps等同类网络版软件更为全面。

“Google represents a serious threat,” said Tom Austin, an analyst at Gartner, who compared the rivalry between the two companies to the browser wars that shaped the early internet. With the free version of its software, “Microsoft is responding as vigorously as it did against Netscape,” he added.

“谷歌代表着一个重大威胁，”Gartner分析师汤姆•奥斯汀(Tom Austin)表示。他把两家公司之间的竞争，与铸就早期互联网格局的“浏览器战争”相提并论。他表示，从宣布推出免费版软件这一招来看，“微软现在的回应与当初反击Netscape一样猛烈。”

Google already claims more than 15m users of its free suite of applications, although paying customers for the premium version number hundreds of thousands. By contrast, Microsoft says around 500m people have Office on their PCs, though half of these use pirated copies.

谷歌声称，其免费应用套件已有超过1500万用户，尽管付费的高级版用户只有几十万。相比之下，微软表示，约5亿人在个人电脑(PC)上安装了Office，尽管其中一半人使用的是盗版软件。

The free version of Office will do little to hurt Microsoft's overall business. Microsoft makes most of its money selling to corporate users and only a relatively small number of home users are likely to abandon the PC version of Office in the short term, said Matt Rosoff, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, a research group.

免费版Office基本上不会损及微软总体业务。研究机构Directions on Microsoft的分析师马特•罗塞夫(Matt Rosoff)表示，微软大部分收入来自企业用户，短期内只会有相对较少的家庭用户可能放弃PC版Office。

With virtually all of its sales coming from Office, the Microsoft Business Division made $12.4bn in operating profits last year, or 42 per cent of the total for the company. Mr Elop said Microsoft would experiment with placing advertising on the online applications before making them publicly available in the first half of next year.

微软商业部门的几乎全部收入都来自Office软件，去年该部门营运利润为124亿美元，占该公司总营运利润的42%。埃洛普表示，在明年上半年公开发布网络版Office之前，微软将尝试在这些网络应用软件上安插广告。

译者/岱嵩