Google to sell online office suite for $50

February 22, 2007 | Matt Marshall

The Google-Microsoft showdown begins in earnest.

Google will announce today it will begin selling online office software for $50 a year, including 10 gigabytes of email storage, word processing, spreadsheets and calendar.

The move comes just as Microsoft is trying to convince businesses to upgrade to its Vista operating system, so Google’s offensive is perfect timing — and is likely to be enough to win over some small businesses.

But here’s the fine-print: Google says the services will be available “99.9″ percent of the time. In other words, remember this is Web-based, and can shut down without warning. Though Google is offering round-the-clock support, it says.

See AP story here.

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About the Author, Matt Marshall

Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.