Microsoft launches Office 365, rivals Google Apps

(CBS) - Microsoft launches Office 365 today, bringing its ubiquitous Office Suite online in an effort to get into the cloud computing game.

Much like the difference of home and enterprise versions of the desktop software, Office 365 has three different plans: professional and small business; midsize businesses and enterprise; and education. Each category has a subscription plan, starting at $6 per month, which makes it easier for anyone to work virtually anywhere with any device.

With the launch, a wide array of products will go live, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. These desktop applications will be synced to the cloud service via SharePoint Online. Exchange Online will connect with Outlook and deepen the online and mobile availability of features like emails and calendars.

The news of Microsoft's entrance into the cloud applications arena isn't going unnoticed. The release strikes at the heart of Google Apps, which already offers office-related software online. 

In fact, a post titled "365 reasons to consider Google Apps" that went up yesterday on the Official Google Enterprise Blog is making waves today as Microsoft Office 365 launches. The search engine giant highlighted the benefits of Google Apps over Office 365.

"Office 365 is optimized for Windows-based PCs and devices, which reduces your flexibility. Our applications are designed to work well on any device, on any operating system. Desktop, laptop, Chromebook, tablet, smartphone. Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Blackberry, iOS, Windows Mobile," said Shan Sinha, Google Apps product manager. "Edit on the go. Share from anywhere. Start on your computer, move to your tablet, finish on your phone. When the web is the platform, it just works."

So what is the main difference between Google Apps and Office 365? One of the benefits of having Microsoft Office go online is that it is already installed on most personal computers. Integrating with Office is seamless with SharePoint syncing compared to uploading files to Google documents. Each set of applications has their own advantages, but the ultimate judge will be the consumer. 

Would you pay to use Office 365 over Google Apps, which is free?