Microsoft: Want My Money? Make My Day!
Email
Print
Microsoft needs to deliver a version of Microsoft Office that offers enhanced functionality that only works in a Microsoft environment. Until then, Microsoft Office users should shop around.
In my last column, I suggested that many—maybe even most—Microsoft Office customers would be served just as well and save money by switching to something less expensive, such as Suns Star Office or maybe Corels WordPerfect Office. While Microsoft once offered a product that included features and functionality that competitive products lacked, including file compatibility with Microsoft Office users, that is no longer true.In 2004, file compatibility is a given and Im hard-pressed to find customers really taking advantage of such Microsoft-only functionality as exists today. The best reason I can find for most customers to upgrade to Office 2003 is the anti-spam technology and some of the user interface improvements to Outlook. Compelling, but probably not compelling enough for most customers.
Click here to read eWEEK Labs eValuation of OpenOffice and Microsoft Office.
But just because I do this doesnt mean you should. After all, I get my software for free and am paid to keep close watch on all things Microsoft. And, heck, I like Word a lot and see no reason to change. Though next time I write a book or some other really long document, I will do it in WordPerfect, which seems better-suited for documents of more than 10,000 words than Microsoft Word. And I actually use Exchange Server features, especially the free server-side spam filtering.
But if I was spending money on software, I dont think this would be enough. Sure, for home use the education version of Office is a good deal for between $129 and $149, but StarOffice is still $80 and OpenOffice is free. At $149 a WordPerfect upgrade is typically less expensive than a Microsoft Office upgrade, though only by about $50. That doesnt seem like a huge incentive to me. If Corel were really serious about competing, WordPerfect Office would cost $99 everyday, a price I suspect is available to quantity purchasers.
For people buying new, WordPerfect Office and Microsoft Office can cost about the same, which again speaks to lowering the pricing if Corel wants to pick up switchers. At $80 per copy, Sun clearly makes StarOffice a much less expensive alternative.
For Microsoft to hold on to market share, I think the company needs to find a way to tie customers more closely to Office. Not against their will, mind you, but by offering enhanced functionality that only works in a Microsoft environment.
There are signs Redmond is headed in this direction. We hear rumors of small business contact management and accounting closely linked to Microsoft Outlook and the MSN online network. For collaboration, SharePoint is a winner, if only as a common file repository for workgroups, but needs to find life as a peer-to-peer product rather than requiring a special server. Microsoft has an investment in Groove Networks that makes me think this is possible.
I like what Microsoft has done with its mapping, Web creation, photo editing, and publishing software, but none of it really works better because you have Office installed (or any of Microsofts other products). And for business users who dont care about these sorts of applications, even a tighter integration into Office and the Microsoft desktop wont help.
InfoPath is useful only if the IT department wants to make it useful; its not a forms tool for the masses like Check out eWEEK.coms Windows Center at http://windows.eweek.com for Microsoft and Windows news, views and analysis.
Be sure to add our eWEEK.com Windows news feed to your RSS newsreader or My Yahoo page
