Free Office 2010 Edition, Product Key Card and Click-to-Run Technology

Last Updated on Thursday, 8 October 2009 11:23 Written by admin Thursday, 8 October 2009 11:14

Microsoft is preparing to sneak a free, but ad-supported edition among the Office 2010 SKUs, that will hit the shelves in the first half of 2010. Dubbed Office 2010 Starter, the new edition will only come preinstalled on new computers and will feature just Word and Excel, and those with limited, basic functionality. It’s all part of the company’s strategy to simplify the testing of Office 2010, in the hope that will lead to increased sales.

From the Office 2010 Engineering blog: We’re thrilled about the growing number of people who are using Microsoft Office every day to get things done at work, at home, at school and on the go. For instance:

• 500 million people worldwide use Microsoft Office
• From July, 2008 through June, 2009 – Office 2007 experienced 92% year over year growth in trials, equating to 23 million trial downloads
• Office 2007 Home and Student edition has been the top selling PC software title at US retail for the last two years

On the heels of such positive momentum, we’re excited to talk about big improvements in the way we’ll deliver the next version of Office to consumers.

Along with the great product innovations we’re delivering in Office 2010, we’re introducing even more choice and flexibility for consumers in how they can try, buy and experience Office 2010 on new and existing PCs. This includes:

Product Key Card and Microsoft Office Starter 2010

For consumers who purchase a new PC, Microsoft is working with major PC manufacturers and our retail partners to make it simpler than ever to try and buy Office 2010.

Through our retail partners, Microsoft is introducing an all-new Product Key Card to help consumers more easily access and experience Office 2010 on new PCs that have been pre-loaded with Office 2010. The Product Key Card is a single license card (with no DVD media) that will be sold at major electronic retail outlets.

An added bonus: The card’s packaging is smaller than the full package (DVD) product, and is eco/retail-friendly. The key number contained on the card will unlock Office 2010 software that has been pre-loaded by the PC manufacturers on their PCs, and enables a simpler and faster path for consumers to begin using any one of three full versions of Microsoft Office – Office Home & Student 2010, Office Home & Business 2010, or Office Professional 2010.

As part of Office 2010 software that will be pre-loaded by the PC manufacturers on their PCs, we’re introducing Microsoft Office Starter 2010. Office Starter 2010 is a reduced-functionality, advertising-supported version of Office 2010, available exclusively on new PCs. Office Starter 2010 will provide new PC owners with immediate exposure to the Office 2010 experience on new PCs right out of the box.

Office Starter 2010 will include Office Word Starter 2010 and Office Excel Starter 2010, with the basic functionality for creating, viewing and editing documents. Office Starter 2010 will replace Microsoft Works, offering a consistent Office user experience, such as the Ribbon, with a simple path to upgrade to a fully-featured version of Office 2010 directly from within the product.