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Microsoft Launches Consumer Subscription Offering That Combines Microsoft Office And Windows Live OneCare: Microsoft Equipt, Initially Known As Albany

Jul 2, 2008 1:00 am by Sunshine | 4 comments

Remember Albany Beta? Well, it has been renamed to Equipt and is released today!

REDMOND, Wash. — July 2, 2008 — Microsoft Corp. today unveiled Microsoft Equipt, an all-in-one security and productivity software subscription service for consumers. In one easy installation, the service delivers award-winning anti-malware protection technology and features to simplify PC management and help improve performance, the productivity tools people use to organize their lives, and online services that help make it easy to keep in touch with friends and family.
Initially code-named “Albany,” Microsoft Equipt offers consumers Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, giving them the latest versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for their personal and school projects; Windows Live OneCare, the all-in-one security and PC management service; Windows Live tools, such as Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Photo Gallery so they can connect and share with people they care about most; and Office Live Workspace, a new service from Microsoft that makes it easy to save documents to a dedicated online Workspace and share them with friends and classmates. Anytime a new version of Office or Windows Live OneCare is released, Microsoft Equipt customers will get the version upgrades as part of their subscriptions.

Microsoft Equipt will be sold in nearly 700 Circuit City Stores in the US starting mid-July. Retail price is estimated at $69.99 for a one-year renewable subscription and can be installed on up to three home PCs.

From the factsheet:

Included Products and Services:

Windows Live OneCare
All-in-one security and performance includes antivirus, antispyware, firewall, file and photo backup, performance tune-ups, and home network management to help keep your PC running at its peak.

Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
· Word 2007. Create great-looking documents with ease.
· Excel 2007. Intuitive spreadsheet tools let you create budgets and more.
· PowerPoint 2007. Design stunning presentations for family, school or volunteer activities.
· OneNote 2007. Organize different kinds of information — text, images, audio and video, Web clippings, and more — in one digital notebook.

Microsoft Office Live Workspace
This new service from Office makes it easy for you to save documents to a dedicated online Workspace and share these with friends and classmates.

Windows Live tools
· Windows Live Mail. Get all your e-mail in one place.
· Windows Live Messenger. Send instant messages to your friends or have a video chat.
· Windows Live Photo Gallery. Organize and share photos.
· And more. Including Windows Live Writer and Windows Live Toolbar.

Automatic updates and upgrades. Office Home and Student version upgrades plus automatic security updates and OneCare upgrades.

More information:
Q&A: PressPass Interview with Bryson Gordon
Factsheet Equipt
http://www.circuitcity.com

This entry was posted in News and tagged Equipt, Mail, Messenger, Microsoft, Office Live, Office Live Workspaces, OneCare, Photo Gallery. Bookmark the permalink.

timsline
What I want to know is if there will be an easy way to upgrade a current OneCare subscription to this new bundle, or if I have to wait for my current subscription to expire.
JohnCz
This looks like a good deal but since I already have Office 2007 I’ll wait to see how compelling Office 14 (2009) is before taking advantage of this.
Alber1690
Why Circuit City though? I thought they weren’t doing so well? But besides that…I think some of my friends would actually consider this, since the $249 scares some people at first for Office. Seeing that OneCare is also included ($30-50/year already) this can seem like a good deal, with the nicely advertised already-free-and-available Windows Live “tools.”
quikboy
Is Equipt a word? Even if it’s made-up, that’s a cruddy name in my opinion. “Microsoft Basics” sounds like a better name.
More payment options is good, but they could just make Office packages more cheaper.
I’m not a big fan of software subscriptions. As if there weren’t enough subscriptions MS keeps track of (Xbox Live, Zune MP, Hotmail Plus, Office Live, etc.), another subscription is just giving MS a steady stream of money year after year.