This post was written by Jeff Johnston

Microsoft Corp. has introduced a subscription-based version of its Office software for U.S. consumers as competitors crowd its core desktop product suites. The new service, called Equipt, combines office tools such as its Microsoft Word word-processing program and the Excel spreadsheet application. A subscription, priced at about $70, lasts for one year and allows users to operate the software on three personal computers, Microsoft said.
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This post was written by Melissa Chang

Microsoft is scheduled to release Microsoft Office 2007 Service Pack 2 in the first half of 2009. The company claims that the release will expand the list of document formats that it supports to include XML Paper Specification, PDF and Open Document Format (ODF).

Critics, however, are concerned about how “open” and “interoperable” Microsoft will actually be.

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