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Surprising new product announcements from Microsoft Office

 

Most business workers are familiar with Microsoft Office, but does anyone out there remember when you bought a new computer with Works on board? Does anyone actually use Microsoft Works? I’m sure there are some folks out there who were just fine with the trimmed-down version of Office. Actually, in a lot of ways, the new online apps are very reminiscent of Works, with trimmed down features and bare-minimum features. For more than 30 years, Microsoft Works was the training program for many eventual Office users. It was less intimidating than the feature rich (and often confusing) Microsoft Office programs. In fact, for years, bundled onto a myriad of new PCs, it was the intro to spreadsheets, word processors, activity management and data bases. It did what it did, and it actually did it all pretty well. (I still like the uncomplicated database application - most casual users really don’t need or understand the power of Access).

 

Unfortunately, Works is also a dinosaur in many ways. It just won’t stand up to document sharing and XML transporting tasks any more. Enter the new Microsoft Starter. I’m really surprised they haven’t come up with a catchier name, but that’s what it is for now - “Microsoft Starter.” What is it? Well, it isn’t Works, and you’ll know it immediately the first time you load it up and take a look at the delightful wonders of “ad supported software.”

 

Starter, unlike Works, will support the Office 2010 format and the Ribbons interface. It is a poorly disguised competitive product for those other cloud apps from Google and others. It will also prep folks for migrating over to a web-based app that requires constant internet access to function (and went into technology preview last month). Microsoft also sees it as a way to eek out better profits over the miniscule margins generated by giving away Works, especially in recent years. There may be a few surprises in store for folks who used to make money on Works to Office upgrades in the past too, but Microsoft isn’t talking about what those changes may or may not be. The fact that the whole thing is being offered as a “royalty bearing” product, but introduced as a better revenue product than Works makes one suspicious. Still, it’s hard to see how Microsoft could hope to continue giving away Works when there are now so many competitive possibilities in the world of “productivity software 101.”

 

More to the point for many current Office users, and clearly a strategy to ramp up the introduction and acceptance of Office 2010, Microsoft is introducing another new offering this month, called, “Click To Run.” Click To Run introduces a streaming technology to the concept of software. Basically, the basics are downloaded, you immediately use it, and the other goodies you want and need are only downloaded over time. Microsoft actually introduced this concept slowly in 2007 with it’s “add-ons” and changes in the installation process. Microsoft also cites the success and big increases in download software installations, touting better and faster download times for what you need with the new streaming concepts.

 

One thing is good news for sure. With the new Click To Run software, you can download and run the new 2010 software without committing to the new product. The new product is installed through virtual application techniques that will actually allow you to keep your old Office version intact and happily operating while you try out the new software! That, in itself, should make the training and migration process much more acceptable to new and old users alike! As someone who greatly misses my old Project and Visio software, thanks to a 2007 upgrade, I think they may be onto something good here - finally! Now, if they would only give me back my old software?