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.
Don’t we all just love to see ads pop up when we’re writing out our important documents? It looks like Microsoft is now planning this after it has ditched the frequently used Office Works for the new “advertising supported” Office 2010 Starter. OEMs can now install the entire Office 2010 suite, but in a limited free version missing many key features. People who want to buy the full Office 2010 suite can then go and buy a card to unlock the full version.
Personally I can’t think of anything worse: a terrible, limited version of Office completed with ads all over the place. OpenOffice sure is looking good now.
