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Microsoft plans Office subscription service

Microsoft confirmed that it is planning a subscription service that combines the consumer version of Office with its OneCare security suite.

Code-named Albany, the product has a single installer that puts Office Home and Student, OneCare, as well as a host of Windows Live services, onto a user's PC. As long as users keep paying for the subscription, they are entitled to the latest versions of the products. Once they stop paying, they lose the right to use any version.

The product is aimed at consumers that want a simple way to have access to Microsoft's productivity suite … Read more

Does Microsoft need a value menu?

Microsoft has been tight-lipped about the "Albany" product that it has just started testing, but ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley hears it might be a consumer bundle that includes Windows Live OneCare, Office Live Workspace, and Office Home and Student Edition.

The product, which apparently also goes by the name "ValueBox" may be an attempt to beef up the consumer version of Office amid stepped-up competition from Google Docs and other free and online competitors.

It strikes me, though, that Microsoft may be looking at ways to protect the Home and Student version of Office, a … Read more