Microsoft Brings the Works Online

You might think the folks at Microsoft (MSFT) have bigger fish to fry than a tiny Bay Area startup named ThinkFree. The company, which offers Web-based word-processing and spreadsheet programs, counts about 60,000 active users, none of whom even pay for the service yet. But there on page six of Microsoft's annual 10-K filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, submitted in August, Microsoft lists ThinkFree as a rival to its $11.8 billion Office business, used by more than 400 million people around the globe. "It's official now," laughs ThinkFree CEO TJ Kang. "We're definitely on their radar."