Microsoft Works going free online poses dilemma

Stan Beer
Saturday, 23 September 2006 10:17

Opinion and Analysis

Mindful of the looming threat posed by Google's growing stable of free online office productivity tools, Microsoft is considering putting its own low-end desktop applications online. However, moving to a free software model poses serious problems for the paid desktop software king.

• Announcements

According to a Reuters report, Microsoft is considering making its low-end office productivity suite Works a free online package supported by advertising.

By taking Works online, Microsoft would hope to counter the emergence of free online AJAX-based office software packages, such as Google's Writely, Spreadsheet, and Calendar, which have a similar level of bare-bones functionality.

Microsoft currently charges US$50 for Works but it is a relatively minor part of the US$12 billion in revenues that the company rakes in each year from Office desktop sales.