Early Tuesday, Microsoft officially released Office 365, its new cloud-based Office product designed to compete directly with Google Docs and whatever Apple might decide to put up in conjunction with iCloud and the revamped Mobile Me expected later this year. The Office 365 suite, which has been in public beta for a while, is being mostly targeted at small business and the enterprise with plans for the entire suite costing between $6 and $24 per user per month, depending on features.

The small and medium-sized businesses that choose the more cost effective $6 option will only get Office Web Apps and Microsoft Exchange. Of course, any option you choose with Office 356 is still more expensive than the $50 annual fee Google charges each corporate user for access to its Google Docs suite. The service also included integration with devices such as Windows smartphones and iPhones.

I guess Microsoft must feel that people will be willing to pay a bit more for its suite of products that include Word, Excel and Powerpoint as well as Exchange. In truth, some companies pay quite a bit just for hosted Exchange so this may end up being a bargain for many businesses, especially those who want to stay in the Microsoft world but still try to cut costs.

We’ll see if this one takes off.  For more, check out the full press release from Microsoft after the jump.

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If you’ve been using Google Docs because you’re looking for a collaborative platform to work in that resides in the “cloud” or you just hate Microsoft and its Office products, then this post is for you. This week, the search giant announced a series of updates to Google Docs which are sure to make fans of the cloud-based service very happy indeed.

Some of these updates included the documents editor, which received additions such as a margin ruler, tab stops, comments, a re-worked system for placing and maintaining bullets and numbers and support for real-time collaboration of up to 50 people. In addition, spreadsheets now allows for cells to be edited from the formula bar, the use of auto-fill and the dragging and dropping of columns.

Plus, the system is reportedly going to be much faster, smoother and more intuitive. In truth, there are so many improvements announced by Google that it would almost be a disservice to them to try and list them all. Besides, why read about something when you can watch it instead, right?

Fortunately, Google has put together a little video highlighting the changes and we’ve got it right here for you after the jump. Check it out.

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Today, Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for Office 2008. This update brings several improvements and fixes to the office suite, including improved speed and stability to Word and Excel, new features in PowerPoint and improvements when connecting to SharePoint servers.

According to Microsoft: “There’s never been a better time to try Office 2008 for Mac — with SP2 we are not only delivering on top customer requests midcycle, but also taking a first step in bringing Microsoft software plus services to Mac users,” said Mike Tedesco, senior product manager for MacBU at Microsoft. “This connection unlocks the door for Mac users to Microsoft services for easier collaboration and file sharing with colleagues, customers and classmates.”

Here’s a brief summary of the highlights:

• PowerPoint 2008: Custom Path Animation, which adds the ability to author motion-path animations and Default Theme, which lets users define their default theme, including fonts, color scheme and slide layouts.

• Word 2008, Excel 2008: Increased speed (particularly when launching and scrolling).

• Expanded Mac browser support in Microsoft Office Live Workspace to include Safari 4.

• Microsoft Document Connection. Document Connection is a new application that improves the SharePoint experience for Mac users, allowing for easier collaboration within a SharePoint environment by simplifying how users can browse, access and manage files online and offline.

For a complete lists of changes, go here. To get the update, run Microsoft AutoUpdate on your Mac or go to the Microsoft Mac Downloads page. It’s there now so go get it!