Microsoft is ready to put its popular Microsoft Office suite online, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Called Microsoft Equipt, the suite will join the software giant’s online offerings of Windows Live Mail, Messenger, OneCare and Photo Gallery.

Previously code-named Albany, the consumer-oriented Equipt will be available for purchase on July 15 through Circuit City’s 700 outlets nationwide. Each $69.99 one-year subscription will cover up to three home PCs, Microsoft said.

“Certainly the initial move is to capture more consumer eyeballs,” noted AMR Research analyst Jim Murphy. “Though it’s unclear at that point what the next version of Office will look like, it’s likely that it will include a mechanism for Microsoft or its partners to monetize its widespread use — whether that’s through advertising or selling other value-added services.”

Equipt For Enterprises?

Microsoft’s move to assemble Office a consumer-friendly online service has some long-term implications for the small-business market. Gartner Client Services Vice President Michael Silver thinks we’ll “see more subscription offerings from Microsoft as instance goes

on” considering it would give the software giant a “more reliable” revenue stream.

The software giant’s latest move basically adapts the model of Microsoft Software Assurance for enterprises to the home market, Silver said.

“Larger small businesses already have offerings like that through Microsoft’s open-licensing program, but the pricing and licensing is more commensurate with prices businesses pay,” Silver said. “Small businesses can probably expect something like that suited to them in the future, but may have difficulty buying that version in specific considering it does not contain Outlook.”

The terms of the current consumer license will prevent a small business from using Equipt, Silver noted. “Microsoft says that business use of Equipt is prohibited,” he said.

Way More Functional

When Microsoft eventually does offer a similar model to small-business users, it could cannibalize the software giant’s…

Original post by Scott Barr

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