Microsoft Office Live out of beta
Microsoft on Wednesday launched Office Live out of beta. The online service offers small businesses website hosting and tools for managing their finances, customers, and sales.
Office Live, which targets businesses of 10 employees or less, offers online design tools for building websites. Customers can also buy ads on Microsoft's Web properties through its AdManager platform.
Other services include a contact manager for storing and organising customer and sales information and making it available to people within an organisation. In addition, the online service has been integrated with Microsoft's Office Accounting Express 2007, which helps small-business owners manage everyday financial tasks. The software also provides tools to sell products through EBay, receive payments via PayPal, and monitor credit through Equifax.