AfterDawn: Tech news

Microsoft launches "Starter" edition of Office 2010

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Oct 2009 2:24 User comments (7)

Microsoft launches "Starter" edition of Office 2010

Microsoft has announced that they will begin offering a version of the upcoming Office 2010 as an ad-supported "Starter Edition," allowing consumers of new PCs (it comes pre-loaded) to use the popular suite for free.
There is of course, a catch, and that is that the Starter edition will only include Word and Excel and will have limited feature set.

"Office Starter 2010 will provide new PC owners with immediate exposure to the Office 2010 experience on new PCs right out of the box," Microsoft said.

The product will replace MS Works, the productivity suite usually included in new release PCs for free or very low cost.

"It really is a replacement for Works," Microsoft corporate vice president Takeshi Numoto added, via Cnet. "It is not a mere renaming of Works. It is an Office product."

Previous Next  

7 user comments

110.10.2009 15:13

This is a good thing for folks that were using Works and/or ignorant of OpenOffice. One less proprietary format now (Works Word Processor, etc.) Now if only we could get Apple to get on board, instead of having to change Pages to RTF all the time!

210.10.2009 18:51

Wow i cant wait for the new features. The new features will make office 2010 a must have.How I got by with office 2007 i'll never know.Can't wait till i get the new windows either cause vista was class.

310.10.2009 23:03

Ya gotta read the fine print!!!

The article states that the starter edition will be AD-SUPPORTED.

Most ad-supported software programs usually contain SPYWARE of some sort. Also, who the hell wants to be bothered with ads when they have an assignment that needs to be completed?

Nice try Microsoft.

411.10.2009 04:17

Hi guys,

Dont be too happy of what microsoft is doing. This time we do not know what they are up to.? They are just about to giving you a small sweet and right behind we dont know what they are really up to...so beware...of somethings great to happen.

511.10.2009 04:19

and I forgot to mention is there is no such things as free lunches especially from a big giant company like mircosoft.

611.10.2009 16:17

Surely the average user and small business could use open office and save money and add supported spyware being installed. OpenOffice FTW.

712.10.2009 18:29
atomicxl
Inactive

I'll probably use it. I've always had bootleg copies of Office but if there is a free legit version, i'll go for that. I don't do anything too intense in Word/Excel so I doubt i'll run up against the limitations.

OpenOffice has it's share of issues. If everyone in the world had it, it'd would be awesome but the last time I used it (years ago) I always had to reformat and edit my documents when I opened them up in Word. The convenience of Word and the compatibility issues of OpenOffice will always make it one of those "cool alternatives" that's actually kinda useless in the real world... for the way I need to use it at least. If I was anti-ms, i'd go for GoogleDocs any day of the week over OpenOffice.

Comments have been disabled for this article.

Latest news

VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads VLC hits milestone: over 5 billion downloads (16 Mar 2024 4:31)
VLC Media Player, the versatile video-software powerhouse, has achieved a remarkable feat: it has been downloaded over 5 billion times.
1 user comment
Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit Sideloading apps to Android gets easier, as Google settles its lawsuit (19 Dec 2023 11:09)
Google settled its lawsuit in September 2023, and one of the settlement terms was that the way applications are installed on Android from outside the Google Play Store must become simpler. In the future, installing APK files will be easier.
8 user comments
Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets Roomba Combo j7+ review - Clever trick allows robot vacuum finally to tackle home with rugs and carpets (06 Jun 2023 9:19)
Roomba Combo j7+ is the very first Roomba model to combine robot vacuum with mopping features. And Roomba Combo j7+ does all that with a very clever trick, which tackles the problem with mopping and carpets. But is it any good? We found out.
Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations Neato, the robot vacuum company, ends its operations (02 May 2023 3:38)
Neato Robotics has ceased its operations. American robot vacuum pioneer founded in 2005 has finally called it quits and company will cease its operations and sales. Only a skeleton crew will remain who will keep the servers running until 2028.
5 user comments
How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp How to Send Messages to Yourself on WhatsApp (20 Mar 2023 1:25)
The world's most popular messaging platform, Meta-owned WhatsApp has enabled sending messages to yourself. While at first, this might seem like an odd feature, it can be very useful in a lot of situations. ....
18 user comments

News archive