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Filed under: Office, Microsoft

Goodbye MS Works, hello ad-supported Office 2010 Starter!

While I haven't had any customers ask to purchase Microsoft Works in years, it still appears on the odd retail boxed laptop. With the coming release of Office 2010, Microsoft has decided it's high time to tag and bag Works and replace it.

Stepping in to fill the void will be Office 2010 Starter, which will be targeted at the average consumer's needs. Starter will package only Word and Excel with basic creation and editing abilities, and will be ad-supported.

Over on the Office Engineering Blog, VP Takeshi Numoto posted "Office Starter 2010 will provide new PC owners with immediate exposure to the Office 2010 experience on new PCs right out of the box." You know, kind of like how just about every boxed PC does that now with the 60-day Office 2007 trial. Except instead of a time-limited but full-featured Office experience, you'll get a stripped-down feature set at no cost. Ever.

Microsoft dangled another Office lock-in carrot recently with the introduction of Office Web Apps. Whatever the motivation - competition with Google Docs and OpenOffice.Org, for example - I'm sure most Windows users will welcome the opportunity to get any legal MS Office apps for free.

Hmm...Office Starter, huh? There's not going to be some asinine 7 document limit in this thing, right?

[via CNet]

Filed under: Games, Internet, News

Are ad-supported video games the next big thing?

Battlefield HeroesLast year Electronic Arts released classic strategy game Command & Conquer as a free, ad-supported download. Now the company is going one step further with plans to release a brand spanking new game as a free download (with advertisements, of course). The New York Times reports that the upcoming Battlefield Heroes title will also allow users to spend real money to buy outfits, weapons, and other virtual goods.

The game is due out this summer. But more importantly, it indicates to us that EA, which regularly produces PC and console games that can sell for $50 or more sees the possibility of generating revenue in multiple ways. We doubt they'll stop selling high priced games anytime soon. But if the ad-supported model proves successful, it could expand the gaming market.

Right now, the folks who are willing to spend the money on bleeding edge games (and the bleeding edge computer or video game console that can handle them) are just the tip of the gaming iceberg. There are millions of people who are already playing simple, ad-supported online Flash games like Line Rider or the troubled Scrabulous. If companies with expertise in creating engaging, high quality games like EA are willing to use the same business model, many people who would never dream of dropping $150 to play Rock Band might be interested in downloading a first person shooter, RPG, or strategy game.

Filed under: Audio, Internet

Tunesquare: Support artists, download free music

TuneSquare
TuneSquare is a new ad-supported music download service that lives somewhere in between the world of illegal P2P sites and paid services like iTunes and Rhapsody.

Here's how it works. You visit TuneSquare, browse for songs by category or use the search bar, and begin listening to music. While you listen, a video ad will play. If you like what you hear, you can download the track for free. That's all there is to it.

Unlike some other free download services (Spiral Frog, we're looking at you), there's no DRM on the songs. You can burn them to a CD, and you don't have to revisit the site 30 days to keep your music collection active.

Musicians who sign up for TuneSquare accounts can split the advertising revenue generated every time someone listens to their songs on the site. It sounds like a win-win situation. But as with many music startups, there's a chicken and egg problem. TuneSquare primarily features music from artists you've never heard of. And that means the site won't likely get a ton of traffic, which means it won't be able to charge much for advertising -- which means that most of the artists who sign up for the site will be musicians you've never heard of.

Still, we like the concept, and just because you're not familiar with the artists doesn't mean that their music stinks. Well, sometimes. Anyway, if you've got a few minutes to kill, you might want to do some music browsing. Even if you don't like what you hear, you'll be helping out a few starving artists while you look for something to listen to on the way to work tomorrow.

[via The Plugg]

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