Microsoft Office 2010 to be launched in May.

Last week, Microsoft announced May 12 as the launch date for Office 2010 which will go on sale the same day to Enterprises with volume license agreements. For the general public and business without licensing deals, it will be available sometime in June with no set date yet.
Also announced, was a new program called Technology Guarantee Program which is a free Office 2010 upgrade for certain owners of Office 2007.
Will qualify for the program, customers who purchase an eligible copy of Office 2007 between March 5 and September 30 2010. According to computerworld.com who reported on this, those customers will be able to download a corresponding edition of Office 2010 for free when the new suite become available in June.
Still according to computerworld, "users who want a DVD installation disc will have to pay a small shipping-and-handling fee" which is not released yet.

For more, see computerworld.com

Scaled down Microsoft Office to be offered free Online.

The ever going battle between Microsoft and Google has reached a new phase with the software giant planning to offer a free Online version of its most prized possession, Office software. Even though the version being considered is a scaled-down of the original one, it is still a significant development in the evolution of Microsoft who until now has resisted the latest fade known as "Cloud Computing" which consits of offering entire applications via the net instead of having them hosted in users' PC.
But with the search giant Google entering the office productivity field with its free Online application called Google Docs, Microsoft recognized the potential for further erosion in its core business as more people become more comfortable with Web-based applications.
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Office's free Online version is expected to be available to the general public, in the first half of 2010.

For more , see WSJ.com