answer:Software as a Service has been around for a bit (linking wikipedia because it explains it better than I could). Better web technologies and faster internet connections made it possible for companies to bring it to their consumer products and not severely affect the number of people they can reach. There are other options, I think it just comes down to what’s important to you. Is there something in particular you’re looking for an alternative to? There are a lot of great open source programs built specifically because people are unhappy with the companies behind the “big market” software in their space. They generally aren’t quite as easy to learn, but the communities try to support anyone who takes an interest.