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Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week 06/16/2010 Microsoft Office 2010 is released
today – More hype than Hollywood and it even has its own movie ! Microsoft
Office 2010 can be purchased today. However,
Microsoft has abandoned upgrade pricing. When you buy Office 2010 for a
particular PC, it doesn't matter at all whether that PC already has a
validated copy of Office 2007 or 2003. There's no discount. So the full
Office 2010 suite will cost you $ 500, Small Business $ 280 and Student
version $ 150. There’s no loyalty discount
for being a previous faithful Microsoft customer. So the
question for all users is – Should we be faithful to Microsoft and
upgrade blindly, or should we look at
alternative office suites, of which there is one that is totally free,
Open Office which you might want to check out, or should we look at new emerging computing platforms? Cloud Computing is the concept
that you don’t need to buy an office software suite – or keep
buying new office suites every 3 years or so - and you don’t need to have in-house computers
or in-house support staffs – because you can do the same thing
online
In this
new computing platform – the servers, application software, and support
people are up in the Clouds – actually on the internet – and all
you or your employees need to access your company’s data are low-priced laptop
computers. Google – now the arch-rival of
Microsoft - is the giant in Cloud Computing, offering Google’s
Business Applications. These are a suite of programs similar to
Microsoft office, which Google claims can help reduce your IT costs and help employees collaborate more
effectively – all for just $50 per user per year.
So
the real question is this
– is Office 2010 a new and exciting suite of applications with new
functionality worth its price – or is it mainly a Microsoft defensive
move against Google, which you’re going to help finance ?
And I say it is truly a defensive move by Microsoft – because part of
Office 2010 is Microsoft Office Web Apps – which is Microsoft's first
version of a cloud-based application suite - so that users can share and
collaborate on documents that are stored up in the clouds, or actually on the
web.
So by
releasing Office 2010 with Microsoft Office Web Apps – Microsoft is admitting
that Cloud Computing is a valid concept. But they want you to pay big bucks
to upgrade to this new concept. So what
do you really have to do ? Nothing
! You can sit on the
sidelines and let the giants fight it out, and keep on running your Office
2007 or Office 2003 programs, or whatever other programs you have - which are
probably more than adequate to run your business on - and wait to see what
– or who – falls out. |
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For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2010 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
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