Microsoft has quietly nixed plans for OfficeLite, a subscription-based version of its Office productivity suite designed for the consumer and education markets, according to company documents examined by CRN. In a March 3 memo to staff involved in the initiative, Cameron Turner, a Microsoft product manager, said the "OfficeLite effort has been shelved for the [Office] 11 time frame." OfficeLite originally was slated to ship with MSN 9, but that plan also has been "tabled," according to the memo. Turner also said in the memo that the project had taught Microsoft "several important things about creating non-perpetual versions of Office [and] working with MSN."

Turner couldn't be reached for comment. A representative from Microsoft's public relations firm said she could not comment on "rumors."

However, in another memo on the matter last week, Joe Eschbach, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Information Worker Product Management Group, said the OfficeLite effort was shelved primarily because the company decided to "more aggressively utilize the Students and Teachers Edition [of Office] as the consumer socket filler. This includes broad-based trial efforts for S&T for education institutions," Eschbach explained in the memo. "Once this decision was made, it became difficult to identify the unique target customer and price point that would make for a long-term sustainable business for OfficeLite."

View: The full story
News source: CRN.com

NEW MAPS:
10 new maps are including, spanning all gametypes, including Deathmatch, Double Domination, Bombing Run and Capture the Flag. The new areas include additional textures and static meshes that can be used with the Unreal Editor.
Maps include..
  • DM-IronDeity
  • DM-IceTomb
  • BR-Canyon
  • DOM-Junkyard
  • DM-Rustatorium
  • DM-1on1-Crash
  • DM-1on1-Mixer
  • DM-Injector
  • CTF-Avaris
  • CTF-DoubleDammage
NEW ADRENALINE COMBOS:
The two new adrenaline combos can be added using mutators:
  • Pint-Sized: Makes the player half their normal height (but players can no longer crouch).
  • Camouflage: Places a holographic projection of a static decoration
    over you as a disguise. The projection doesn't quite extend to your feet, so you
    have to crouch to be fully concealed.

OTHER NEW FEATURES:
  • Announcer Voice Options: Several new announcer voice options are now available
  • Music Options: This bonus pack also includes a new OGGPlayer that gives gamers direct control over the music that is played during the game.


There are 11 additional comments
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(5 replies) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #1 Posted by leebobs on 12 Mar 2003 - 10:29
Noooooooooo........ Keep Office XP running @ a lower cost for home use!!! £50 Std or £100 Pro+FP. Microsoft don't even have to include all the books, just the CD. I would finally buy a legit copy and I am sure many others would too
Quote this comment #1.1 Posted by JaggedFlame on 12 Mar 2003 - 15:33
Why don't you just buy Microsoft Works?
Quote this comment #1.2 Posted by leebobs on 12 Mar 2003 - 17:35
[neoquote=#1.1 by JaggedFlame]Why don't you just buy Microsoft Works?[/neoquote] Have you ever used Microsoft Works?? It is about as useful as an underwater pen
Quote this comment #1.3 Posted by nacs on 12 Mar 2003 - 19:28
[neoquote=#1.2 by leebobs]Have you ever used Microsoft Works?? It is about as useful as an underwater pen[/neoquote] Actually it's good enough for most people. And it comes with Word which is all that most people really need.
Quote this comment #1.4 Posted by leebobs on 12 Mar 2003 - 20:03
AOL is also good enough for most people... However its not really good enough for users who need that little bit more Which MS Office offers. Outlook, Excel, Powerpoint and Access are all regularly used by me and many like people like me... The problem is that upgrades are celdom worth the benefit that we shall be provided with @ the large cost. Providing an older generation product like this can only be good for Microsoft and can easily REPLACE works.
Quote this comment #1.5 Posted by JaggedFlame on 12 Mar 2003 - 21:31
Works comes with a money management suite, a reference suite, a word processor, a calendar, a spreadsheet, and more. That [i]includes[/i] the features in Money, Encarta, Word, Outlook, and Excel, at least. And it only costs $120. Can't beat it. And if you still need more, the Office S&T version's only $99.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #2 Posted by Lowrider on 12 Mar 2003 - 10:47
Hmmm... that's not a very good idea of MS I'd say... but then again I'm not a student anymore so I don't really care...
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #3 Posted by PacificAk on 12 Mar 2003 - 12:49
MSN 9...!! is just me or...!!!
(1 reply) Quote this comment Reply to this comment #4 Posted by Neobond on 12 Mar 2003 - 13:22
ah well theres always [url=http://www.neowin.net/index.php?lite=1]Neowin Lite[/url]
Quote this comment #4.1 Posted by nacs on 12 Mar 2003 - 19:28
[neoquote=#4.0 by Neobond]ah well theres always [url=http://www.neowin.net/index.php?lite=1]Neowin Lite[/url] [/neoquote] Right but it's not subscription-based.
Quote this comment Reply to this comment #5 Posted by Galley_SimRacer on 12 Mar 2003 - 15:00
I've seen Office XP for Students and Teachers for as little as $99.99! You'll never be required to provide any proof of eligibility, unlike academic discounted software.
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