Microsoft to put stripped-down Office on new PCs

From InfoWorld: Microsoft announced today that it will abandon its decades-old Works entry-level suite, and will instead offer a stripped-down, advertising-supported version of Microsoft Office 2010 on new PCs next year.

Dubbed Office Starter 2010, the new edition will include only Word 2010 and Excel 2010, dropping PowerPoint 2010 and OneNote 2010 -- the other applications that will be bundled with the lowest-priced package, Home & Student -- as well as Outlook 2010, which is part of the next-level-up Home & Business edition.

Office Starter 2010 will not be a trial edition that times out, said a Microsoft manager today. "Office Starter is different than a trial, in the sense that there's no expiration," said Scott Kahler, the test manager for the new suite, in a video posted on a company blog. "You can continue using it until your needs exceed what Starter can give you."

At that point, Microsoft hopes that users will pay for a more substantial version. "We insure that when you've upgraded, all your documents come across," added Brian Albrecht, Office's group program manager, in the same video clip. "There's no conversion or anything that needs to happen, and everything's there for you."

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