Microsoft To Beta Test Office Live; The Daily Music And Tech News

Microsoft set to start testing Office Live

Starting on Wednesday, Microsoft says they will offer a beta version of Microsoft Office Live for free in order to test for potential problems. Office Live presents a shift towards more web-based products in order to compete with Google and Yahoo. The software will offer businesses the ability to maintain e-mail and websites while working with Desktop versions of Microsoft products such as Excel.

Amazon developing download service

Amazon.com is looking at the digital music market. They are at work finishing putting together their system and are talking with major labels. Amazon is looking to have the system up and running as early as this summer.

Web sales catching up to high street

Verdict Research, a retail analyst, found that sales in 2005 rose 29% from 2004, earning about £8.2 billion in the UK. This compares with £9.4 billion spent in high street stores in 2005. Verdict also found that overall sales only grew 1.5% in 2005, which is the slowest rate of growth since the beginning of the 1960s.

Article Author: Katharine Donelson

Katharine Donelson is a student of Linguistics, Communication and Welsh. She currently lives with her formerly feral cat and spends her time learning Welsh vocabulary, listening to music, watching films, photographing the local scenery and maintaining her blog The Film Noir Experience. …

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