Eventually some under-informed bozo may suggest using a web server to automate Microsoft Office applications. I used to summarily dismiss this talk as another Homer Simpson overdosing on the doughnuts. However, as I get older and more tolerant I realize that I must explore the possibility that this so-called bozo is suggesting that we stream IIS responses back to the client using MIME types based on Microsoft Office formats. In a low-traffic Intranet environment it may not be such a "stupid" idea to stream an Excel spreadsheet into a web browser.

The MS KB article "INFO: Considerations for Server-Side Automation of Office" (Q257757) goes into more detail:

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q257/7/57.asp