Microsoft confirms plan for low-cost suite with Office, other apps

IDG News Service - Microsoft Corp. today confirmed that it plans to release a subscription-based set of low-end desktop applications, code-named Albany, and that it has sent an early version of the software to thousands of beta participants for a round of private testing.

Sources said last month that Microsoft was developing the suite as a means of competing with Google Apps and other free or low-cost online applications. According to the sources, Microsoft in late March sent invitations to test Albany to a select group of users, asking them to sign nondisclosure agreements just to take part in the testing process.

Bryson Gordon, a product manager at Microsoft, claimed Friday that Albany — which the company internally describes as a software "value box" — isn't simply an offering of personal productivity tools.

"The free applications online address one portion of this," Gordon said. But he added that Albany will also provide home users with what people have told Microsoft are the "essential" products they use on a computer. That includes security capabilities as well as tools for "helping people connect and share with others," he said.

In addition to the Word, Excel and PowerPoint applications from the Office Home and Student 2007 edition, a plug-in for Office Live Workspace will enable Albany users to store and share documents online from within Office, Gordon said. Albany also includes basic PC security tools via Windows Live OneCare, an online service that provides firewall and antivirus protection. And it will come with the Windows Live versions of Microsoft's e-mail, instant messaging and photo-sharing tools.

Although users can separately buy or download all of those products now, the Albany package will provide unified installation under a single subscription fee. "We don't want [customers] to go through a cumbersome process to set this up," Gordon said, noting that Albany will also feature a "welcome" window that shows users all of the suite's features and can be used to launch the applications.

Microsoft has yet to set pricing for the new suite or even say whether the subscriptions will be sold on a monthly or yearly basis. In addition, the company is still mulling which channels to use in selling Albany, although sources close to Microsoft said previously that retail outlets such as Best Buy would be among the places where users could buy subscriptions.

Gordon said Microsoft doesn't plan to publicly beta-test Albany, which is expected to be ready for release before the end of the year. The company will use the feedback from the private beta in developing the final version of the suite, he said.