Ban on Microsoft Word and Office sales begins today
Microsoft has been the center of a legal battle from a small patent owning company, i4i for many months for infringing on it's "Custom XML" patent which is included in Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007 and is part of Office 2007 suites. Recently, Microsoft lost the court battle against I4i, after stalling for a few months with an emergency motion and was ordered to take Word 2007 off the market by January 11th, 2010. In addition, Microsoft must also pay i4i damages of $290m.
Today, the 11th of January, marks the day that Word was to be off the market, but to the consumer nothing has changed. According to Microsoft, they have complied with the court's ruling and have released a 'revised version' of Microsoft Word and Office 2007 suites that does not have the 'Custom XML' technology.
The new version, which hits US stores today, has no visual differences and will not be discernable from the previous variant of Microsoft Office 2007. Microsoft has also removed Office 2003 from MSDN and Technet earlier last week.
According to the BBC, Microsoft filed another appeal against the injunction on January 8, even though they have already challenged the ruling once before. The latest appeal has been filed because Microsoft believed the decision conflicted with "established precedents governing trial procedure and the determination of damages" according to Kevin Kutz, director of public affairs at Microsoft.
Office 2010 Pricing Revealed
Microsoft Office General Manager, Rachel Bondi, has officially announced the official Office 2010 pricing. The interesting thing to see is the ability to purchase a card with a product key on it, foregoing the physical CD, and saving a nice chunk of change. But beware; if you buy the product key card only, you are limited to installing it on a single computer. If, however, you buy the boxed edition, you are entitled to install the program on two of your PCs.
Here are the prices:
- Professional - $499 boxed, $349 for product key
- Professional Academic - $99 boxed only
- Home and Student - $149 boxed, $119 for product key
- Home and Business - $279 boxed, $199 for product key
Office Home and Student will also be available in a 3 license Family Pack, though the price is not listed. The Professional version will include Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, Outlook 2010, Publisher 2010, Access 2010, and premium technical support. The Home and Student version will contain Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, and OneNote 2010. The Home and Business edition will just add Outlook on top of the Home and Student offering, and will be licensed for business use. The Professional Academic version will only be available from campus bookstores and authorized academic resellers. All editions will also come with the Office Web Apps that users have been eagerly awaiting.
Below are the editions in more detail...
50% Discount on Windows and Office upgrades
According to ZDNet, Microsoft really wants to push medium and small businesses to move away from Windows XP and older versions of Office. The "Up-to-Date Discount," as they call it, is available for the first year of the OVS (Open Value Subscription) licensing program and applies to customers using the Professional versions of Microsoft's software. OVS is a way for small and medium businesses to pay for their software licenses over time, instead of having to foot it all up front.
The new promotion available for the Up-To-Date Discount is called N-2 and allows users that are still using Windows and Office XP (which are two releases ago) to participate as well (assuming they sign up for an OVS plan). Previously, the program was only for N-1, meaning only the previous release of Windows and Office were part of the promotion. Businesses will be able to upgrade to Windows 7, as well as Office 2007, or may choose to get Office 2010, assuming they're willing to wait for its release.
Here are the details, straight from the Microsoft SMB Community Blog. Note that the 50% off is calculated based on estimated retail prices. The deal is available from January 1st through June 30th.
So who qualifies for this offer?
For Microsoft Office Professional Plus:
- Before the Office 2010 launch: Companies with OEM, Retail, or Volume licenses for Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, Office 2003 Professional, or Office XP Professional
- After the Office 2010 launch: Companies with OEM, Retail, or Volume licenses for Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 or Office 2003 Professional
For Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade: - Companies with OEM, Retail, or Volume licenses for Windows 7 Professional, Windows Vista Business or Windows XP Professional
What you get: - 50% off your 1st year OVS payment for Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade or Microsoft Office Professional for every qualifying N-1 or N-2 license you have.
- As an example, in the U.S., this means you would be paying $35.00 for a Windows 7 Professional Upgrade and/or $91.00 for Office 2007 Professional Plus in year 1, plus receiving all of the Software Assurance benefits (such as an automatic upgrade to Office 2010 when it launches, Office Home Use Rights, and much more) for that price!