Microsoft Corp. is changing the tide swiftly. Starting July, the big company will be selling its Office software to users on a subscription basis. According to experts, this move will actually reshape the future of software distribution and regard it as “services” over the Web.

The MS Office bundle also includes Microsoft’s Live OneCare computer safety system and will be available to subscribers for $70 annually. It will be sold on 700 Circuit City stores within this month. The product will also be launched in other tech product retailers such as Dell Inc. in the near future.

The software bundle, called the Microsoft Equipt, bundle contains the Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote plus OneCare applications. It also contains the other MS Office free additional applications, among them the Windows Life program.

Originally, this software can be bought for around $200. Software succeeding versions are of course outside that $200 amount. Meaning, users will have to purchase in full whenever a new version comes out. But with the new system, software upgrades to a new version comes in the annual cost of subscription.

Among the aims of this new software protocol is to combat piracy, as well as to give options to people who are willing to pay for good and secured software. According to Bryson Gordon, a group product manager for the Office group, the price of $70 is affordable and within the range of other popular security programs such as McAfee Inc. and Symantec Corp.

Source: AP Google