In fact, Open Office.org is not the only alternative Microsoft Office. Sun Microsystems has its own version called Star Office 8, which costs US$69.95. There are also a number of free web based office productivity applications, such as Google Docs & Spreadsheets, Zoho and a growing range of others.

For the past 12 years, Microsoft has built its fortune on two key products - Windows and Office. Growth in sales of both products has slowed to a crawl - particularly in the case of Office.

PC users will be forced to pay a substantial proportion of the cost of a new PC to run Microsoft's new operating system Windows Vista. In that instance, users locked into Windows have no viable choice but to pay up. However, the same thing cannot be said for Office.

There are now plenty of choices for users who don't want to spend big to run good office applications. Microsoft may well find that in trying to convince users to pay exhorbitant prices for highly commoditized office productivity tools that are available elsewhere for free or a fraction of the cost, it may have met its Waterloo.{moscomment}