Microsoft won't be able to continue to sell Word 2007 without disruption.
Microsoft has pulled every version of Office except the $670 full-version Office Ultimate 2007 from its online store to comply with a court order requiring it to remove custom XML technology from its popular Word software by January 11.
Microsoft had originally promised that it would be ready with a revised version by the January 11 deadline, but now says that the revised software will be available “soon.”
Microsoft will also patch Word on the Mac to comply with the ruling. On Saturday, Mcrosoft issued an update for Word 2003 for Windows to abide by the same ruling.
In the meantime, Microsoft has its fingers crossed that the delay will help it get the Office 2010 beta in the hands of more people. Office 2010 isn’t affected by the ruling. Microsoft expects 2010 to be available mid-year and is suggesting to visitors looking to buy Office 2007 that they give the beta a whirl for the time being instead.
I’ve been using the Office 2010 beta for a few months now and like it as much as I like Office 2007 (meaning, once I figured out the Ribbon menu, I was a happy word-processing camper). Interestingly, the Office 2010 beta has been bugging me to validate its license, even though my Office 2007 was properly licensed and validated, and a commercial version of 2010 isn’t even available for sale yet. So my advice is that the beta isn’t as good an option for corporate use as the valid product, but if you can wait six months, you may to use this injunction as a reason to skip your purchase of Office 2007 and buy Office 2010 instead.
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