Office Live Workspace is a free online tool which allows users to view, share and store their Office documents online. Still, they are not be able to edit them. Editing is only offline, and during offline editing, the file appears "checked out" so that others are informed about the ongoing process.

Microsoft has allowed, starting today, public registration in the beta program of the new online service, which the famous software making company has already dubbed as the "online companion" of its Office suite. Office Live Workspace is now open to any user with a Windows Live ID, who has Office desktop software installed. The online service requires Internet Explorer 6 or later or Firefox 2.x, while Safari support is in the works.

"We are responding to the most urgent needs of the 500 million Office users. They want to access their documents anywhere," said Guy Gilbert, a senior product manager for Microsoft.

To enable integration of Office Live Workspace and the Microsoft Office suite, users have to download a special plug-in available for Office 2003 and 2007. Mac users have to wait a bit for an Office 2008 for Mac plug-in. For now Workspace is only available in English, but more languages are coming soon.

Microsoft’s effort comes as recognition of the competition that has started to heat up in this field. Microsoft has been until recently the leading company in the productivity arena thanks to its Office suite, but other rival companies have started to challenge Microsoft’s position.

For example, Google has launched its Google Docs online service, and there's also Zoho Office. Other companies are also expected to announce similar software in the next period.