Technology giant Microsoft has previewed a new version of Office that runs over the web.

With small businesses around the country using Microsoft Office on their computers the new application could seriously impact how work is done in the future.

The final version of Office, which includes Word, Excel and PowerPoint, is unlikely to be released for at least a year, but the demonstration indicates how important the programme is to Microsoft.

Office is responsible for more than 90% of revenues in the company's business division, the largest sector of the firm.