Microsoft announces Office 2010 pricing

 

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Posted on 19 Feb 2010 at 13:36

Microsoft has announced its estimated pricing plan for Office 2010, saying that it hopes to "make it easier than ever before" for consumers to get hold of the right version of Office for their needs. Microsoft Works has been replaced with Office Starter 2010, which is completely free and will be bundled with new PCs.

Office Starter includes lightweight versions of Word and Excel, and will enable users to use "basic productivity features". Microsoft hasn't detailed exactly what features will be included in Office Starter 2010, but we expect them to be slightly more functional than the cloud-based Office services the software giant launched last year. Not surprisingly, Microsoft has built provisions into Office Starter 2010 that will allow users to upgrade to a full version of Office 2010 at any time.

As most consumers and small businesses will get their first taste of Office 2010 on a new PC, Microsoft has introduced a new system called Product Key Cards, which allows a new, lower price for Office. Their premise is quite simple: it gives users a licence key to quickly unlock the version of Office 2010 pre-installed on their new PC. It's likely to result in more PC makers installing Office as standard on their machines, because they know they'll have the opportunity to quickly up-sell their customers to a full version.

The basic version of Office 2010, Home and Student, will cost £109.99 for the boxed copy and £89.99 for a Product Key Card. Office Home and Student 2010 includes Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010 and access to the Office Web Apps.

Office Home and Business 2010 adds Outlook 2010, which turns out to be a £130 up-sell as the boxed version has a recommended retail price of £239.99. The Product Key Card is a slightly easier pill to swallow at £189.99, but that's still a £100 upgrade that only adds Outlook 2010. Of course, if you're using Exchange or need Outlook's functionality, there isn't really a viable alternative.

Finally, Office Professional 2010 will retail at a breathtaking £429.99 for the boxed copy and £299.99 for a Product Key Card. This is undoubtedly a lot of money considering the continually improving free alternatives such as Google Docs and OpenOffice.

With that said, Office Professional 2010 is Microsoft's complete productivity suite and includes Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010, Publisher 2010, Access 2010 as well as access to 'premium technical support' and the Office Web Apps. Ultimately, that's a lot of software for the money, but most consumers who need this kind of power will be part of a larger organisation that relies on Microsoft's Volume Licensing.

On that note, Microsoft hasn't announced its Volume Licensing price plans yet, but there's still plenty of time ahead of Office 2010's scheduled June release. If you're unsure whether it's worth the upgrade, Microsoft is running a free beta program so you can give it a try ahead of its launch. Head over to Microsoft's Office 2010 homepage for more information.

Author: Tim Smalley