Business applications have remained stubbornly tied to the desktop for the vast majority of firms, but this may change now that Microsoft has launched its web-friendly Office Live Workspace.

The service allows users of traditional Office documents, such as PowerPoint, Excel and Word files, to be shared and collaborated on by users remotely.

Following in the steps of Google's Apps service, Microsoft may be some way off technology's cutting edge, but the integration with popular desktop applications may aid its adoption by workers and employers.

"Customers have asked for an easy way to save their documents from Office to the web, so that they can get to their information or projects if they're away from their PC," said Kirk Gregersen, Microsoft's Office director of consumer and small business product management.

He suggested that this will mean the end of the "confusing free-for-all" of emails being sent back and forth as users can all access and edit the document as they see fit.

Forming part of Microsoft's 'software-plus-services' initiative, this development was tipped for success by Neil Pearlstein, president of Microsoft partner PC Professional.

He suggested that it "is going to have a place in the IT world, not only in universities and government... it will be utilised by small businesses and by any business that will have a good, solid reason".