Albany Project: Microsoft's answer to Google Docs

Last week, Microsoft’s selected beta testers received invitations to participate in a closed limited beta test of a mysterious product, codenamed Albany. They did not receive any additional information. They promised to provide access to the product later, so the story looked very strange and gave rise to a wave of speculation about what Albany was for.

And yesterday, new information appeared. One of the beta testers illegally made a screenshot of the advertising slogan that appears during the registration process. It says that Albany is a “ValueBox” that combines three “wonderful” Microsoft software products for the needs of home PC users. Apparently, the Albany project combines new versions of Windows Live OneCare, Office Live Workspace and Office Home and Student Edition.
Based on this, we can conclude that Albany is a partly online office package with an offline part that will be distributed in boxes at a discount (ValueBox) through a retail network. How much Albany can compete with the undisputed leader in the market of online office software Google Docs - time will tell. Apparently, Microsoft thinks that people are switching to an online office because it is free. Therefore, they want to release a very cheap alternative to the expensive MS Office package.