On 28 November 2011 11:14, Pedro <pedl...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm wondering if the recent offer for download of the "add supported" > limited > edition of Microsoft Office Starter is a reaction to the improving quality > and dynamics of several free Office suites (with LibreOffice leading the > pack)
Possibly Google Docs leading the pack ;-). I use both LibO and Google Docs, but probably slightly more Google these days. or if this is simply a strategy of giving something for free to get > people to buy new hardware in the Spending Season? > > I know it may sound absurd but since Office Starter is for Windows Vista > and > 7 only, some people might consider buying the new machine (the marketing > people convinced they need) just to take advantage of this freebee :) > Thoughts? > I'd say it is probably an experiment to see what revenue could be generated from ads, given that increasingly people expect to get software gratis and without the hassle of license fees. That seems to me more likely to be related to the influence of the internet than desktop apps. They need to consider alternative revenue models to compete with Google's search and advertising model. Google should do a version of Office based on the OOo/LibO code base and embed ads and search links, make it available freely and brand it Google Office. Given their brand strength and marketing, that would probably do more to frighten MS than anything we can do. Slightly surprised they haven't already done it. -- Ian Ofqual Accredited IT Qualifications (The Schools ITQ) www.theINGOTs.org +44 (0)1827 305940 The Learning Machine Limited, Reg Office, 36 Ashby Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B79 8AQ. Reg No: 05560797, Registered in England and Wales. -- Unsubscribe instructions: E-mail to discuss+h...@documentfoundation.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.documentfoundation.org/www/discuss/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
