Microsoft kills Windows Live OneCare and Equipt subscription services
Category Microsoft
From All About Microsoft from Mary-Jo Foley: Microsoft kills Windows Live OneCare and Equipt subscription services
Microsoft’s Equipt — which Microsoft launched in July of this year — is dead and Microsoft is having to go back and pull copies of Equipt from the channel (Circuit City in the U.S. and DSGI in the U.K.). Microsoft is offering customers a pro-rated refund for the service and allowing purchasers to keep Office Home & Student edition for free forever, Microsoft officials said.
Launched in July, and dead by November? That's fast even for Microsoft standards!
And in case you forgot the buzzwords:
New Microsoft Office subscription bundle to hit in mid-July Equipt is the product/service that was formerly codenamed “Albany” (and inside Microsoft, known as “ValueBox”). Equipt, which Microsoft describes as its “essential set of software and services for consumers,” includes a version of Office Home and Student 2007; Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft’s PC management/security bundle; a few Windows Live communication/collaboration services; and Office Live Workspace, Microsoft’s online-collaboration add-on to Office.
Must not have been *too* essential. :)
Obviously, those who bought Equipt now have free-forever software, which isn't bad when OpenOffice costs the same amount... nothing. However, it continues to amaze me how much money Microsoft can burn through with all the mistakes, missteps, and aborted launches. Whatever they spent to get Equipt out the door is now lost money. At least half (if not greater) of all the revenue realized from the sale of Equipt is headed back to the customer. And I bet the people who have the now-free version of Office won't be upgrading for a LONG time.
If Microsoft has that much money to burn, perhaps the auto industry should be talking to them instead...
From All About Microsoft from Mary-Jo Foley: Microsoft kills Windows Live OneCare and Equipt subscription services
Microsoft’s Equipt — which Microsoft launched in July of this year — is dead and Microsoft is having to go back and pull copies of Equipt from the channel (Circuit City in the U.S. and DSGI in the U.K.). Microsoft is offering customers a pro-rated refund for the service and allowing purchasers to keep Office Home & Student edition for free forever, Microsoft officials said.
Launched in July, and dead by November? That's fast even for Microsoft standards!
And in case you forgot the buzzwords:
New Microsoft Office subscription bundle to hit in mid-July Equipt is the product/service that was formerly codenamed “Albany” (and inside Microsoft, known as “ValueBox”). Equipt, which Microsoft describes as its “essential set of software and services for consumers,” includes a version of Office Home and Student 2007; Windows Live OneCare, Microsoft’s PC management/security bundle; a few Windows Live communication/collaboration services; and Office Live Workspace, Microsoft’s online-collaboration add-on to Office.
Must not have been *too* essential. :)
Obviously, those who bought Equipt now have free-forever software, which isn't bad when OpenOffice costs the same amount... nothing. However, it continues to amaze me how much money Microsoft can burn through with all the mistakes, missteps, and aborted launches. Whatever they spent to get Equipt out the door is now lost money. At least half (if not greater) of all the revenue realized from the sale of Equipt is headed back to the customer. And I bet the people who have the now-free version of Office won't be upgrading for a LONG time.
If Microsoft has that much money to burn, perhaps the auto industry should be talking to them instead...
Comments
I wonder if Symphony and OpenOffice had a small part in this decision.
Posted by Gregg Eldred At 20:00:32 On 18/11/2008 | - Website - |