Microsoft's Albany to rival Google Docs, reports

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Following reports earlier this week that Microsoft was developing a top-secret hosted software suite, it has confirmed sending invitations to beta invitations to testers for a project codenamed 'Albany'.

But the company has so far remained tight-lipped about confirming whether the project Albany invitations are for the same project Albany that surfaced in rumours on Wednesday this week as the codename for its development of a hosted suite of lightweight productivity software and services.

The company confirmed it had sent out Albany beta invites through its US press agency yesterday with this statement: "Microsoft is always testing ideas and concepts to better meet the needs of our customers and we do have a beta available to a limited set of customers. Further details are not available at this time."

But sources close to Microsoft told a US newswire that Microsoft is requiring participating beta testers to sign a non-disclosure agreement and that the purpose of the beta is to test the package's unified installer. Microsoft has neither confirmed or denied this.

The sources also reported that project Albany is targeting competition from the likes of Google, with its hosted Docs and Apps software.

But for Microsoft to set a price for the product would mean beating the cost of its own, lowest-cost Office Home and Student packages. It would also have a tough job meeting the price points of competitors: Google, for instance, offers its Google Apps for free, but charges for enterprise-level support. So, it was not known how much of the current retail Office suite would be used in any new, hosted product

Other sources suggested Albany is likely to feature a cut-down Office alongside the existing Office Live suite, including its Workspaces document sharing and OneCare virus-scanning services.

Microsoft had not responded to IT PRO requests for additional comment at the time of writing.

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