“Get this: Microsoft – the king of paid software – will announce today that it is going to give a version of Office away for free online. Both the online and desktop versions are scheduled to arrive in the first half of next year. Yes, you read that right. The latest version of its ubiquitous productivity software, dubbed Office 2010, will come as both a piece of software you can buy for your computer, and as a service you can access in your browser,” Fortt reports. “[UPDATE: Microsoft says it will support the Firefox and Safari browsers as well as IE.]”
Fortt reports, “Chris Capossela, the executive who manages Office, told me that… Office Web Applications, the free, ad-supported version of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, will probably appeal to tightwads who weren’t going to buy a copy of Office anyway. This way, rather than force those folks into Google’s arms, Microsoft can hook them into its online world and tempt them with its latest technology. And Microsoft can also tempt them to upgrade. Office Web Applications will work better if you actually purchase Office 2010.”
Full article here.
