Microsoft looks to juice the Office brand

Experimenting with different ways of easing consumers into the world of Office is going to become increasingly important for Microsoft. Besides the operating systems, Office is a big contributor to long-term shareholder value. And shareholders are obviously concerned by competition from similar online applications, such as the ones provided by Google (NASDAQ: GOOG).

Microsoft must better communicate the importance of its productivity-enhancing programs and do its best to combat the idea that word processors are nothing more than commodities. Of course, Office is no slouch. When it comes to word processors and spreadsheets, Word and Excel command a lot of market attention.

That being said, the short-term road for Microsoft may be difficult. And I'm only going by what CEO Steve Ballmer has said recently. Brian White highlighted a particularly interesting comment by the animated executive in an article on Friday. Ballmer doesn't believe that PC sales will necessarily increase following the release of Windows 7. Yikes! That's not good. I would have thought that anything after Vista would serve as a nice catalyst (Ballmer is possibly keeping expectations purposely low; we'll see). If Windows 7 ends up not helping the computer business, then Ballmer really needs to focus on Office. The software suite has a lot of brand recognition, and there's obviously plenty of life left in it. Still, users are trying to buy technology products as cheaply as possible since the economy continues to be in a mode of suffering. Nothing can be taken for granted any longer.

In terms of the stock, long-term shareholders of Microsoft should do fine, but what about the shorter term? Well, interestingly enough, I just made a little money on a trade of the company. Last week, I bought some shares of Microsoft after the Goldman Sachs downgrade. I got in at $24.88. A week later, I sold out at $25.80. I'm personally hesitant about holding stocks for long periods of time right now, and I think Microsoft could possess some pullback potential. After that, trading the stock could generate short-term gains. Keep watching the price action.

Disclosure: I don't own any company mentioned; positions can change without notice.