Free Version of MS Works in the Works

Microsoft's stripped-down version of Office is the app suite that everyone loves to hate. Microsoft Works is streamlined, low-power, sometimes compatible, and missing many facets of full-blown Microsoft Office... but because it costs a whopping $40, computer manufacturers love to slap it onto computers they sell in order to pay lip service to offering a productivity suite on their PCs. (Of course, OEMs pay far less than that... probably in the range of $10 to $15 per copy they bundle.)

Well, now Works is getting even cheaper: Microsoft is set to offer a free version of Works, which replaces the price tag with advertisements that will appear somewhere on the screen while you work. Whenever you're connected to the internet, the ads will update and refresh, though there's no news on if those ads will be contextually driven by the words you're typing at the time. (I wager that's not the case... the privacy folks would have a field day with it.)

Microsoft Works SE 9, as it's called, will arrive in "a few months," but no release date has been announced, nor a list of vendors who'll be offering it. However, I expect all major manufacturers will move to the free version of Works as soon as it's available to them. In fact, Microsoft will probably pay the vendors to install it (or otherwise offer incentives for computer manufacturers to include the software).

I expect this won't reverse Works' sliding fortunes: I've never seen anyone use Works even without the ads on a regular basis. They either uninstall it and upgrade to Office, or sub in OpenOffice.org instead—either way is a dramatic improvement. (The linked article mentions Google's office suite as a competitor, but I don't find online apps nearly mature enough for daily use yet.)

Still, I guess Microsoft will probably earn a quick buck off of this strategy. Some people are just too lazy to download a better alternative, even if it's free. Don't you be one of 'em, OK?

LINK: Microsoft to test ad-supported version of Works