Microsoft releases a free ad-supported version of Works

Posted July 31, 2007 at 08:00 PM by Robert Nelson

Section: News, Computers, Software / Applications

Microsoft has just released a free version of Microsoft Works to compete with OpenOffice and Google Docs. It is free, however it is also ad-supported. The free version of Works will include word processing, spreadsheet and powerpoint functionality and is said to be based partly on code from old versions of Office.

The decision by Microsoft to offer a free office suite comes as online packages are growing in market share. While I do not think online office programs will replace the desktop anytime soon they are nice and have times when they are convenient. It always seemed that Works was the not-as-good version of Office and I am not sure a free version would change the feelings. I think given the choice I would choose Google Docs or ThinkFree Office for my online needs.

Read [TechCrunch]