MS launches new software for offices, homes

Software giant Microsoft today launched Office 2010, SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010 and Project 2010 for business customers in India and across the world. This latest office productivity suite comprising Word, Excel and Powerpoint, among other applications, is meant to offer unified productivity experience across the personal computer, web and mobile.

Starting today, Office 2010 is available for volume licensing in two editions, Office 2010 Standard and Office 2010 Professional Plus, specifically targeted at the small and medium businesses (SMB) and enterprise customers, respectively. Office 2010 Professional, Office 2010 Home and Business address the needs of SMB, while Office Home and Student is meant for home users. While the products would be available to business users from today, the retail (consumer) editions are to be launched on June 15.

The professional version of the software would be available at Rs 20,000 and the consumer and SMB versions would be available at Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000, respectively.

“The excitement in India for Office 2010 is very high. The beta version has seen over 1.3 million downloads and over 2,000 companies like TCS, Lowe Lintas, Virgin Mobile, Mindtree Consulting and Infosys are already moving to the latest version,” said Microsoft India Chairman Ravi Venkatesan, while launching the suite here today.

Moreover, Office Mobile 2010 will soon be available on Windows 6.5 phones and a broad range of Nokia smart phones, starting with Nokia’s business-optimised range, E-series.