More details have emerged about Microsoft’s forthcoming (and free) web-based Office 2010. The package won’t contain not-mourned paperclip bastard Clippy but will have light versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. A public beta version of the software is expected towards the end of this year, with a full launch in 2010.

As an act of future-chasing and trailblazing, Microsoft’s entry into the world of cloud-computing will come only three years after Google’s similar Apps suite of online tools was born. Wow – hot hot hot! However, Google’s Apps does come with a subscription fee while Office 2010’s web incarnation will be free.

A Microsoft spokesman said: “We’re fucked here. We haven’t got a clue. We’re thrashing around like a drowning wasp in a pint of lager top.” Except he didn’t. What he did say was: “We knew that if and when we were ever going to bring applications into a web environment, we needed to do the hard work first because we hold such a high bar.”

We brought you the taster ad for Office 2010 yesterday. Why not have another look at it and see if you find yourself craving the launch of the product afterwards.