> MS's strategy of making it's software and tools subscription based and accessed through web services won't work in Asia. Most of the rest of the world is still paying for their internet by the hour, as I am now. That is not likely to change anytime soon.

An example to counter that. Having the UT available as a web service means that you download all of the day's messages (data) in seconds then view it off line thus saving internet connection time. Of course this works only if the app is local and the web service gives you data. If the app is only available while connected, that is another story..