Microsoft to enter online services

Microsoft Corp. unveiled a new strategy to move software and services online, seeking to fend off a growing threat from Google Inc. and other nimble upstarts born on the Internet.

With a new web site called 8216;8216;Windows Live,8217;8217; Microsoft hopes to create a new platform that will unfasten some of its applications from computer hard drives.

The site, available at http://www.live.com, repackages some of the features Microsoft already offers at MSN.com

8216;8216;It8217;s a revolution in how we think about software,8217;8217; Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said on Tuesday.

Microsoft8217;s online push represents its most ambitious attempt yet to adapt to the challenges and opportunities posed by the Internet while protecting its core franchise of licensing software for installation on a single computer 8212; a business that made it one the world8217;s most profitable companies. 8212;Agencies