Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is providing a few more details about the upcoming cloud office suite Office 365. The originally promised support for Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Chrome has disappeared. An oversight?
The beta phase for Office 365 is ramping up, and Microsoft is especially encouraging companies to apply for testing, even if key information about the service is still missing and actual access to the service may not be available for several weeks for new applicants. However, we now know that the basic $2-per-month kiosk worker access to email will be limited to a data volume of 500 MB. You may wonder why you would pay for 500 MB if you can get nearly 8 GB for free at Google, but Microsoft maintains that it is offering sophisticated data centers with a comprehensive security solution backing them up.
The $6-per-month SMB plan includes a 25 GB mailbox and attachment sizes of up to 25 MB.
The updated Office 365 website struck us with a footnote that mentions the software you will need to run Office 365 Web apps. Microsoft said that the cloud service is compatible with "most of the devices you use today, including PCs, Macs, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone, iPhones, and Nokia as well as all major Web browsers." Previously, we were told that all popular browsers were supported. However, some browsers have mysteriously disappeared from the Office 365 website: According to Microsoft, "An appropriate device, Internet connection, and supported Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari browser are required."
So what happened to Chrome and Opera? There is no reasonable explanation why Chrome or Safari would not be supported. We checked in with Microsoft but did not receive an answer as of Friday.
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