U.K. Web hosting company Fasthosts has begun offering a subscription service that gives users access to Microsoft Office applications online. The basic subscription costs US$10 a month and allows the use of 2007 versions of Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.

The subscription prices vary depending on what type of user you are. In order to qualify for the $10 price point, you must be someone participating in some form of education– like educational software licenses. If you aren’t a student, then you are classified as a business user by Fasthosts, and the same subscription package will cost you $30 a month. Fasthosts also offers a professional subscription, which adds access to Publisher, Access, and

Although there is a minor glitch in this offer, access to the applications is only available while you are connected to the Internet, meaning no offline working. Though they do have provisions so that If you lose a connection for any reason, the program may close and need to be reopened once a connection is resumed … check the autosave function to minimize any impact should the internet connection become intermittent. Having a version of MS Office available online is a step in the right direction, but alternatives are already starting to get established, and they don’t charge money for access. Microsoft still has the advantage of being the most well-known office suite, but when money is involved, user loyalties can soon change and free office suite like Orpgs are real beneficial as they are of Open source platform and are available for free