Microsoft officially price tags its Office 2010 suite

by Stevie Smith - Jan 6 2010, 05:20

If, despite the existence of Open Office, you still have a desire to line Microsoft’s pockets by purchasing its upcoming Office 2010 desktop productivity suite, the following breakdown of prices will likely provide a rush of body tingles and an oddly satisfying ache in your wallet.

More pointedly, Redmond-based Microsoft Corp. has this week rubberstamped the layered price points associated with Office 2010, all of which vary depending on personal or professional requirements and whether consumers are looking to purchase retail boxed copies or would prefer to opt for a cheaper download.

Expected to receive its long-awaited launch towards the tail end of 2010, the latest iteration of Office will be sold across four editions, which are priced as follows:

The standard Office Home and Student package will carry a boxed price of $149 USD, while those willing to download can save around 20 percent by picking up the suite for $119 USD.

The more capable and feature-rich Office Home and Business release will come attached to respective box and download prices of $279 USD and $199 USD, while the enterprise-centric Professional edition will carry more hefty prices of $499 USD for the physical retail version and $349 USD for the download.

Microsoft is also offering a Professional Academic edition of Office 2010 to institutes of higher education for a mere $99 USD. This version will be sold directly through campus bookstores and other selected retail outlets (a download version is not available).

“We’re committed to making Office 2010 the best productivity suite ever, and making it easier for everyone to try, buy and use Office,” enthused Rachel Bondi, General Manager of Microsoft’s Office software division.

And user feedback gathered from the current public beta release of Office 2010 suggests that such focused commitment is seeing concrete results, thanks, in the main, to 90 percent of test users reporting that Office 2010 is a definite improvement over previous iterations.

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