Microsoft introduces downloadable Office software

Microsoft Corp. on Friday announced a downloadable, subscription-based version of its Office suite, which has been code-named "Albany."

The software suite, which isavailableto people who have signed up forthe"beta" test versionsince March, will offer users Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, with the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

It will also include the Microsoft Office Live Workspace connector on the Microsoft Office toolbar,whereusers will be able to save documents online and share them with others, as well as security and backup services.

The company said it would announce pricing and availability of the final version later this year.

Albany group product manager Bryson Gordon said it was introducing the online subscription version in order to give customers more options on how to buy the software. Users will still be able to buy software in stores on discs if they choose.

"We're just making it really convenient and painless for consumers to get up and running in a few mouse-clicks," he said on the Microsoft website. "At the same time, we are definitely not straying from our traditional software sales model. There will always be a significant number of users for whom purchasing a perpetual license to the latest version of Office is still the best choice."

The downloadable software will also save consumers the bother of installing new versions each time they become available, Gordon said. Instead, updates to the software will be automatic.

Microsoft's productivity software has come under attack recently from Google Inc., which has been offering a freeapplication suite called Google Docs that lets users store their documents online. Google's offerings do not yet include security services, however.