Monday July 13, 04:04 PM
STOCKS NEWS US-Microsoft to release free Office software
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1045 ET 13July2009-Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT - news) to release free Office software
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Microsoft Corp will release a free version of its dominant Office
software that users can access over the Web, catching up with products that
arch rival Google Inc (NASDAQ: GOOG - news) launched three years ago.
The world's largest software maker will offer a word processor,
spreadsheet, presentation software and a note-taking program with the same look
and feel of their counterparts in the Office suites that it sells for personal
computers.
It is the latest salvo in an intensifying war between the two technology
giants. Google announced plans last week to challenge Windows with a free
operating system. Microsoft introduced a new search engine, dubbed Bing, last
month, that has taken a small amount of market share from Google.
A free version of Office could hurt sales of Microsoft's top-selling and
most profitable business unit. One of Office's most popular titles is a home
version that sells for $150. It includes the four programs that Microsoft will
give away.
For details, see
Shares of Microsoft, a Dow component, rose 0.9 percent to $22.58 while
Google gained 0.8 percent to $417.89.
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