It took less than a week.
On Monday, Microsoft said it would offer a free version of its popular Office software suite that would run on the Internet.
The Redmond, Wash., company didn't mention its archrival by name, but analysts saw Monday's move as a strategy by Microsoft to protect one of its most profitable businesses against Google, which already dominates the Internet search market.
The Web-based version of the Office suite will be available next year.
“Microsoft was forced to provide a free product" as an answer to Google Docs, a suite of free, browser-based document and spreadsheet editing software, said Sheri McLeish, an analyst with Forrester Research. “It's a very competitive market out there, and this was Microsoft's opportunity to one-up Google by offering a much better product."
The announcement, made at Microsoft's developers conference in New Orleans, is the latest tit-for-tat in an intense competition between the two technology giants.
