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Microsoft Weighs Subscription Model for Office

Posted Apr 18, 08 3:10 PM CDT in Business,  Technology 

(Newser) – Microsoft is considering introducing a subscription-based business model for its Office suite of applications in the US, the Wall Street Journal reports. The firm said it was launching a beta testing program, “Albany,” and expected to make the subscription generally available by the end of 2008. Microsoft’s Office is facing some competition from Google and Yahoo, who offer free web software that performs similar functions.

"Consumers...expressed frustration at having to spend time and effort installing different types of software, keeping current on new versions and getting their computers set up," the Albany project manager wrote on Microsoft’s website. "We found from our research that when you bring these categories together and keep them automatically updated, a subscription model makes a lot of sense."

Source Wall Street Journal

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Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, speaks at the 2008 MVP Global Summit event in Seattle on Thursday, April 17, 2008.   (AP Photo/Kevin P. Casey)
Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer works the crowd gathered for the 2008 Microsoft Summit MVP in Seattle on Thursday, April 17, 2008.   (AP Photo/Kevin P. Casey)
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates gives the opening keynote address at the Microsoft Office Sharepoint Conference at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Monday, March 3, 2008.   (AP Photo/Marcus R. Donner)
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