Microsoft to take wraps off Office Live in preview

Microsoft said on Monday that it is set to begin testing an online version of its popular Office software in a first step toward shifting some of its computer-based products to the Web to fend off rivals such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

Starting on Wednesday, the world largest software maker plans to offer a "beta" or general test version of Microsoft Office Live for free to help work out any potential problems prior to a full-fledged commercial release later this year.

Microsoft dominates the market for software installed on a computer's hard drive with its Windows operating system and its Office business application franchise, which packages together word processing, speadsheet, presentation and other programs.