Microsoft Office 365 Official; Google Docs Who?

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When it comes to productivity tools, the most important rival of Microsoft’s Office suite seems to be Google, especially recently as the Mountain View-based company has made some serious upgrades to its cloud-based Office alternative. But Redmond will not let any of that slide anymore and in order to do so Microsoft announced today Office 365, it’s own cloud based Office solution.

Office 365, besides the strange name, which is something regular at Redmond, just look at the recent Windows Phone 7 Series shortened to Windows Phone 7, the Kin phones or the Kinect, is “the company’s next generation in cloud productivity that brings together Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online in an always-up-to-date cloud service.”

The catch seems to be though that Office 365 is not going to be a free service. The company is going to start a limited beta program in 13 countries but once the program becomes official, Office 365 will be available to any small business, professional and small companies for just $6 or 5.25 Euros per user, per month and they will have access to Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online.

Now, if you have a midsize or large business or are part of a government organization, you can pay $2 or 1.75 Euros per user per month “for basic email”. Are we to understand from the press release that big businesses won’t get all the other features of Office 365? Or that basic email is an additional $2 or 1.75 Euros per user per month?

Microsoft goes on to tell us that Office 365 for enterprises comes with the option of getting Microsoft Office Professional Plus, for $24 or 22.75 Euros per user, per month, on a pay-as-you-go basis. Here’s what organizations would get each month for that price point: “Office Professional Plus along with e-mail, voicemail, enterprise social networking, instant messaging, Web portals, extranets, voiceconferencing and videoconferencing, webconferencing, 24×7 phone support, on-premises licenses, and more.”

Office 365 will be available later this year, but starting today you will be able to sign up for the beta program, once the official Office365.com website will be available for the public. Or you can stick to the free Google Docs app that’s also kicking it in the cloud for you or your business.