Office subscription service ready to go

The welcome screen for the new Equipt offering lists the products and services available.

(Credit: Microsoft)

If you are looking for "Albany," you might want to try heading to Circuit City.

Microsoft on Wednesday announced that Circuit City will be the first to offer a new Office subscription service, first known by its Albany code name and now dubbed Equipt.

The idea behind the subscription service is to convert more new PC buyers into Office buyers. It plays on the fact that although most people don't buy Office at the same time as a computer, many do purchase a security software subscription.

Microsoft is trying to tap into the fact that while many people would rather find a copy of Office that they don't have to pay for (either an older version or a pirated copy) they are willing to pay for security software. "Security is basically the No. 1 thing that gets attached with a PC," said Microsoft group product manager Bryson Gordon.

Equipt bundles a subscription version of Office Home and Student with Microsoft's OneCare antivirus product for $69 a year--just $20 more than the suggested price of OneCare alone.

On the main page of the Equipt subscriber center, users can see their subscription status and make changes to their account.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Gordon said some less sophisticated users think they are getting a copy of Office as part of their PC purchase and are disappointed when they come home and find only a trial version of Office. "That's when a lot of folks will start digging through the drawer for (an old copy)."

Although Equipt is starting out at Circuit City, the deal is nonexclusive and Gordon sees options to go beyond stores and beyond the U.S. Gordon said Microsoft expects to expand to other retailers later in the year and eventually to offer it through other means, such as through computer makers or over the Web.

In addition to placing Equipt on retail shelves, Microsoft is also looking for it to be installed by so-called tech benches, the generic name for things like Best Buy's Geek Squad.

Also, for now at least, there is no way to upgrade from a OneCare subscription to Equipt, though Gordon said that may be in the cards.

"It makes a lot of sense so it's something you will likely see," he said.

I was curious just how Microsoft accounts for the revenue it expects to get from Equipt--i.e., how much gets counted toward Office and how much toward OneCare. Gordon wouldn't say, other than to indicate it would be wrong to think that the Office unit only gets the $20 difference between Equipt and OneCare.

Gordon said the company's research indicates that those who opt for Equipt will be people who would not otherwise buy Office, but added "we are going to keep a very close watch on cannibalization metrics."

[MaLvaDo39]

Microsoft can't build a secure OS and then charges you for protecting it.

[rcrusoe]

$69 a year for products you can get for free? I'll stick with OpenOffice and AVG antivirus. They have worked well for me for many years. But based on P.T. Barum's teachings, I'm sure this will be a success for Microsoft. He said "There's a sucker born every minute".

[squirtlewa]

I like OpenOffice. I also think the MS Works suite that's pre-installed non-trial on most manufactured computers will work for a lot of people. It has Word processor, Excel-like spreadsheet, etc. It's just missing PowerPoint.

Additionally, many people have a way to get MS Office if they need it at less-than-retail price.

Academic discounts: All but one of the colleges I've attended/taught at had some kind of employee purchase option. Employers who want people to work (for free) at home may also provide licenses.

When you buy Office retail, it comes with 3 licenses. So grabbing your old DVDs makes sense.

The "add $20 to a $49 upsell" kind of approach will work fine at a place like Circuit City -- their commission-driven sales guys are well-practiced at turning a $600 computer sale into $1200. I don't imagine it working at retail outlets that don't feature high-pressure sales (eg Walmart).

[JCPayne]

Best time to switch to www.openoffice.org

[umbrae]

Open Office rocks. Not sure why anyone would use MS office: Let alone pay "YEARLY" for it. Maybe they should start bundling Office into Windows to justify the few hundred dollars it costs off the shelf.

[Tui Pohutukawa]

Just get a Mac. But that's probably too easy for some people.

[The_Decider]

One care is a protection racket. Only MS has the gall to produce an OS so vulnerable to malware and then tries to charge extra for a band-aid. Office 2007 can be had at any University bookstore for around $60. People going in for either are simply retarded. Of course, that is what MS always is betting on. It is more than a little sad that MS relies on ignorant people so much.

[pmfjoe]

So my question as a SMB partner is what happens on the SMB level? How am I supposed to tell a business owner with 15 machines they should buy an open license for $250+ per machine for office instead of just buying 5 packs of this? Sure it is good for only a year but how is MS going to shut down office after the subscription expires, and even then $350 for 1 year is much better than the $3,750 open license cost. Heck if the owner never upgraded office again after buying the open license licenses it would take 10 years of renewals to make the open license a better deal. Talk about giving the stuff away, if MS can afford to price this so cheaply for the home market why can't they do the same for the commercial market?

[cnetcensorssuck]

OpenOffice, Google Docs and AVG. Screw Microsoft.

[isthereonenotused]

Facts please.
Exactly how is a Mac easier, in relation to this article. It does not come with a word processor or spread sheet package straight out of the box either. You still have to buy iworks or MS office for Mac and install them. Bit to hard for a Mac Lover's to except that they are oh so close to that windows clone.

To clarify also all editions of office do not come with 3 licenses, only the home and student (or previously called student and teacher) does and you are not suppose to use it in a commercial environment.

"Free" alternatives like AVG Free and OpenOffice are great except most excluded you from using them in a commercial environment. (know this is true for AVG not sure about OpenOffice) So, by letter of the license you cannot use them in your business and generally people will want to use the same products at home, if they spend any amount of time on the computer at work.

Same comments goes for the "Academic" editions. Your license does not really cover you for commercial use. So, you really should not use it a business environment.

Now, how would MS know either way if you did use them in a commercial environment....
Shhh..... that is your little secret. But keep in mind that penalties for copyright violation are rather stiff and it is not just 1 fine. You're fined every time you have made an illegal use of the matterial. --- So do your on risk analysis.

Yeah everyone loves to bash MS, including me but have you actually ever reviewed any reports from true security experts which report on all operating systems vulnerabilities?

[Imalittleteapot]

Well, here is Microsoft?s problem. Any MS fan boy will tell you how secure Vista is. It?s impenetrable they say. Ok well, they don?t say that, but they try to convince you of that even though you still need a firewall, antispyware, and antivirus that somehow, whatever the latest version of Windows is, it?s still really really secure. It was the same line with Windows XP when it came out and so on. If you really believed Microsoft you wouldn?t buy any protection from them because you wouldn?t need it right? Windows is super super secure right? Now Microsoft says, well no, you still need protection because it?s not really that secure. Oh, so you were lying about how secure it was? Well why would I buy protection from liars? They can?t honestly sell it either way now. Windows already comes with firewall and defender right? Isn?t that basically saying, sorry people, those things don?t really work. Now you?re gonna need a subscription. Besides, why even focus on security. If people really wanted security they?d just use Linux. That?s all the Linux people talk about is secure secure secure right? Meanwhile the home user?s actual priorities are games, web browsing, email, movies, music, word processing, and then security. Sure, when you can download something for free that probably won?t actually kick in until long after the virus has trashed your system, but it makes you feel safe, then why not? It?s just an extra. But it?s really the last thing on their mind. Most people certainly don?t feel the need to actually switch to an operating system that is actually concerned with security. Want to play family feud? Number one reason put on message boards why they can?t use Linux? SURVEY SAYS! GAMES! That?s right. It?s always some teenager talking about how he can?t play his games. Security isn?t even close to top priority so good luck getting monthly subscriptions out of people that aren?t completely clueless. Even if they do the fear soon wears off. Most people that buy security software do it when they buy a new computer or right after they?ve gotten a virus. That soon wears thin after they realize they have to update new definitions every day or week, or the actual virus scan from a crappy product can slow your system down more than if you had just left the virus on the system. Plus Windows is so insecure you can still get hosed even if you have all your protection in place. I sense a lot of cancelled subscriptions from angry customers on this one.

[KTLA_knew]

Imalittleteapot, that's called a strawman argument. I'm surprised you spent so much typing on such a poorly disguised logical fallacy. Really, when you have to spend the whole front half of your point saing "but it is " and "they say it's ", it should be a key right there when none of them are true.

"If you really believed Microsoft you wouldn?t buy any protection from them because you wouldn?t need it right?"

I mean come on. Even before One Care was out, MS had whole site set up to help make sure you were secure, including buiding in a warning in the operating system that told you if you weren't running up to date AV or malware software. You were pointed to solutions by other vendors.

If you have to invent your opponent's position to gain any advantage, you look like you've already admitted defeat.

Try this site, it's been up since LONG before Vista or One Care were ever around: http://www.microsoft.com/security

[eferron]

Defense in depth - Is Linux and Mac really any more secure? AV, Firewall, and AS simply protect you until updates are made available to cover the security hole discovered. Linux and Mac put out just as many OS level patches as Windows and while you are waiting for those patches to come out you are vulnerable to attack. So what do you do? Place your bets or do you go and get something that will provide you with a couple of layers of extra protection. Now this begs the chicken and the egg question. Do I patch my software first or update my AV/AS definitions or Firewall policy? Do you really think the AV/AS guys are in Redmond yelling across the cubicle to the OS guys saying, "don't check your fix in, we are going to send marketing out to sell a few more copies of OneCare first". If so then you don't have a good handle on reality. Windows is the mostly widely deployed business and consumer operating system in the world. When Linux and Mac get past 20% deployment across the world let me know how well sitting on your hands waiting for an OS patch works for you. In addition let me know how many bugs we can file against your secure software as well being used by people across the globe. No doubt there are a few software engineers writing some pretty big projects on this forum and understand the complexity in writing software for a global marketing where people are doing everything from playing games to saving lives. You could make the argument that you should have separate code bases for Windows that do not have any intersection, then you create another whole set of challenges. All in all Mac and Linux users please stop pretending we do not have issues, crashes, and security vulnerabilities in the OS's we use. Yes, I use a MAC and a PC for work, play and graphic/video editing and they both have pros/cons, neither has a clear edge IMHO, when it comes to security.

Ed

[ittesi259]

While their is a push to max sales and accesories on all sales, your argument is flawed that this is "commission driven" I was working at Circuit City when they eliminated commissions and all workers are now paid an hourly wage (and that isn't new, that was 4 years ago). As for employees treating customers like dirt.....thats probably because the good employees who actually knew what customer service was all got fired to be replaced with punk kids who were cheap labor. Glad I left 4 years ago.

[S R]

Let's say you are at a University and the professor teaches bad in class, specifically so that you can attend his out-of-school tuition class for additional fee? Is that right?

[Dragon_Myr]

I don't see why anyone would want to subscribe to Microsoft Office. The free alternatives, such as Open Office and Google Docs, are just as good if not better than Office 2007. Open Office in particular is so much easier to use than Office 2007. For a while they were practically giving away Office 2007 and people still didn't want it. Microsoft needs to wake up and start giving people what they want, not completely changing things because of what Apple and Google are up to.

[masterz13]

Ripoff. Newegg has Office Home and Student Edition for like 89 bucks new. Microsoft is just a greedy company to begin with.

[lavern]

People on this board are really crazy. They complain about how greedy MS is??!?! Fellas its called having a product that has no real competition. It allows you to charge a premium. Whether you choose to pay it or not is your choice but don't complain about it....Lets be real there really isn't an easier to use, more comprehensive solution then office.

[blabtech]

Open office is a good source, I agree..

http://blabtech.blogspot.com