It is claimed Project Albany will be a combination of Office, Office Live Workspaces, Windows Live OneCare and the Windows Live suite of services in one package that eventually is expected to be available in retail outlets such as Best Buy in the US. Analysts in the US say that due to price points and functionality, Office Home and Student 2007, which include Word, Excel and PowerPoint, will be the most likely candidates for inclusion in the new suite, which is expected to be quite low-cost.
However, another source said the Windows Live products included in Albany will be client-side applications, such as the desktop version of OneCare, Windows Live Messenger, and Windows Live Writer and not hosted services. But Microsoft executives, who have long said that the company eventually will offer a hosted version of Office, even as the various packaged versions of Office continue to be successful in the consumer and business markets.
US analysts have noted that with the Albany release, the company may be trying to create a hybrid product that “wouldn’t cannibalise its software business even as it moves its services strategy forward”.