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Microsoft To Test Subscription-Based Office Software
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TechTeam on 18 April, 2008 04:18:00
 
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Friday said it is experimenting with a subscription-based
model to sell office and security applications to consumers in the U.S., as the
company faces heightened competition in its core desktop products market.
In a statement on its Web site Friday, Microsoft said that the program, code-
named "Albany," had been launched in a private beta testing program, with plans
to release the product before the end of 2008.
If launched, Albany will be the first time Microsoft, the dominant maker of
consumer office software, has experimented with a subscription-based office
product in the U.S. The company has already launched subscription-based versions
of its Office products in some emerging markets.
The package will include the latest versions of word-processing application
Word, spreadsheet tool Excel and presentational software tool PowerPoint. It
will also include security tools to block viruses.
A Microsoft spokesman said pricing and distribution details for the commercial
launch of the product hadn't been set and declined to comment on the planned
launch date.
Bryson Gordon, group product manager for Microsoft Albany, said on the
company's Web site that the test was designed to address consumer demand.
"Consumers...expressed frustration at having to spend time and effort
installing different types of software, keeping current on new versions and
getting their computers set up," he said.
"We found from our research that when you bring these categories together and
keep them automatically updated, a subscription model makes a lot of sense."
The test comes amid heightened competition from search giant Google Inc. (
GOOG), which has recently been making applications including word processing and
spreadsheet tools available free over the internet.
Other Internet companies, including Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) and Salesforce.com Inc.
(CRM), have recently been making similar business and office applications
targeted at consumers and small businesses available free over the Internet.