A freelance Java developer claims it took him only 30 days to build and launch a basic open source office suite that runs on multiple OSes.

Apps, Google's flagship product for enterprise IT, had a minor presence at this week's I/O developer conference, but some announcements at the show and in prior weeks deserve attention from customers of the cloud email and collaboration suite.

A new mobile application from Harmon.ie promises to improve the way people use Microsoft Office 365 from iOS, BlackBerry and Android tablets and phones.

Google is rolling out a new IT administration console for its Apps email and collaboration cloud suite and for other enterprise products such as Maps Coordinate and Chrome OS devices.

Microsoft plans to accelerate improvements in Office Web Apps, the browser-based version of the Office suite, adding features like real-time co-authoring of documents and the ability to run in Android tablets via mobile Chrome browser support.

At a time when Cloud computing services for productivity tools are gaining steam, you would think that desktop software like Office 2010 would be on a downslide.

Office 365 Home Premium, Microsoft's new subscription-based version of Office 2013, lets you use your applications anywhere. But does it really cost less than the client version?

When Ben Fried left his post as IT managing director at Morgan Stanley and took over as Google's CIO in May 2008, he knew what he was getting into: supporting a user base full of technology experts and computer industry stars, like co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, CEO Eric Schmidt and Vice President Vint Cerf. In a recent interview with IDG News Service, Fried spoke candidly about his job and shared tips and advice for fellow CIOs, including the urgent need for tablet device strategies. An edited transcript of the interview follows.