Microsoft to launch 3 new versions

BOSTON: Microsoft Corp will release three versions of its dominant Office software that users can access over the Web, catching up with products that rival Google Inc launched three years ago.

The news helped send shares in the world's largest software maker up 2.7 percent by midday, more than double the gain in the NASDAQ Composite Index.

It is the latest salvo in a war between Microsoft and Google. Google announced plans to challenge Windows with a free operating system. Microsoft introduced a new search engine, Bing, last month.