From the Microsoft licensing crypt: New Office Web Apps details unearthed

Microsoft hasn't yet provided pricing or licensing specifics about the paid version of its Office Web Apps offering that it is readying as part of its Office 2010 wave. But the analysts at Directions on Microsoft have unearthed a couple of interesting tidbits by combing through Microsoft's licensing documents.

First, a quick recap re: Office Web Apps. Office Web Apps is Microsoft's first real foray into the Web-based producivity space that's the stomping grounds of Google, Zoho, etc. We already know there is going to be a free, ad-supported consumer version of Office Web Apps -- the Webified version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Microsoft is planning to make this version available to anyone with a Windows Live Skydrive account. The Softies also have said there is going to be a paid, subscription-based version of Office Web Apps for business users that will require SharePoint access. That version will be available as a Microsoft-hosted service and/or for companies to run themselves on-premises. (This business version of Office Web Apps is what Microsoft made available to interested testers as part of Office 2010 Beta 2.)

Here's a potential scenario: You buy Office 2010 Standard or Professional Plus, which includes rights to use the paid version of Office Web Apps. You're on the road without your PC and want to use Office Web Apps from a kiosk, a hotel computer or a mobile device. Will you be able to do so without having to purchase additional Office licenses?

"We badgered them (Microsoft) for a month to explain this, which they never did, but the use rights document does," said Directions on Microsoft analyst Paul DeGroot. Buried inside the 200-page January 2010 Microsoft Product Use Rights (PUR) document is the answer.

"If your computer (somewhere in the world) is licensed for Office 2010, then you can use the (paid) Web Apps," DeGroot said. "In this case you are the 'single primary user of the licensed device.' Also, anyone sitting at your licensed device (aka 'non-primary user of the licensed device') can also access Office Web apps. So it's a hybrid of user and device licensing."

I've also been wondering whether Microsoft will offer the paid Office Web Apps subscription to users who don't want to buy the corporate versions of Office 2010. What if you're an Office 2007, Office 2003 user who wants Office Web Apps access?

"There is no option (or, at least none reveals so far) for corporate customers to purchase just the right to host Office Web Apps internally, without buying the 'thick client' licenses," said Directions on Microsoft analyst Rob Horowitz.

But Office 2010 users definitely should have the right to access Office Web Apps remotely, Horowitz reiterated.

"If your work PC is licensed for Office 2010, you  ('primary user') can use Office Web Apps from any device. This was an important point of clarity, especially since folks away from their desk who access SharePoint 2010 remotely are likely going to be using Office Web Apps to view docs… and they need to be properly licensed."

Directions on Microsoft is offering licensing boot camps for customers interested in these kinds of licensing questions and details. There's one at the end of January in San Francisco and another in April in Washington, D.C. More info on those two-day events can be found here.