All the latest UK technology news, reviews and analysis
|
|
|
31 Jul 2006
Microsoft plans to start charging a $1.50 fee for users to download its Office 2007 beta 2 from next week.
The fee is an attempt to curb the bandwidth costs for the downloads, Microsoft said in an emailed statement to vnunet.com.
"Having exceeded our beta 2 participation goals by 500 per cent, we have had to make the business decision to implement a cost recovery measure for future downloads of beta 2 beginning 2 August 2006," a company spokesperson said.
"Beginning at 6.00pm Pacific time on 2 August 2006, US$1.50 will be charged per 2007 Microsoft Office system beta 2 downloaded."
Office 2007 was launched as a public beta in May. In late June the software developer launched a hosted version of the application for users seeking to test drive the application's features. But enterprise users looking to test the software for potential compatibility issues on their systems need to download the software or order a CD.
Users who have already downloaded the software in the past will be able to obtain updates free of charge.
Latest stories from Software
Related articles
Related jobs
Poll
What is the most important IT priority for your company this year?
Connect with V3.co.uk
This paper focuses on a series of best practices and techniques for development teams looking to improve their software development processes
Why good data management at all levels is essential in the modern business (video, 6mins)
Principal Development Engineer Lead- London - Smart TV...
Development Engineer - London - Smart TV, Gaming, Tablets...
Principal Development Engineer - London - Smart TV, Gaming...
Test Engineer -London - Smart TV, Gaming, Tablets, PC...
Keep up to date with the latest products, services and technologies from the world's leading IT companies. IThound.com brings you over 2,000 white papers, case studies and analyst reports.
Do you agree?
Hey Bill
Ever heard of BitTorrent!!
Posted by: Colin B Maharaj 01 Aug 2006
Short Term Thinking
Every week now it seems, we here another story regarding some sort of public relations miscue by Microsoft. The latest involves Microsoft charging to download their beta version of Office 2007. Not only can you help troubleshoot their buggy software, you can also forfeit some of your hard earned money (not to mention dignity), to do it. When I first heard of this I had to quick click Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary - Beta to review the definition, because obviously it changed without me knowing it. Surprise, surprise to find out it reads like this: a nearly complete prototype of a product (as software) I?m all for programmers & software companies making a good, even obscene financial living, if it delivers a quality product which infinitely makes my life better & easier. A product by the way, that is complete, stable and with as few bugs as possible (as there is no such thing as bug-free software). What part of this description fits MS Office 2007 beta? Every week, the world is moving closer & closer to an Internet-centric planet, and every week, Microsoft tries to convince us to keep using & propagating 20th century technology. Every $1.50 fee they collect for their beta download, will keep at least one other consumer or business customer from trying it. Every customer that refuses to pay for beta software, not because $1.50 is a lot of money, but because Microsoft is trying to change the rules so they can win (taking their ball & going home), is another customer who might just decide, ?screw it? when thinking about upgrading. More short term thinking, but then, that?s all Microsoft has, isn?t it?
Posted by: I'm Guessing 31 Jul 2006