Microsoft Corp. has told beta testers of Office 11, its next-version Office desktop productivity suite, that the product will only work with the Windows 2000 operating system with Service Pack 3 installed, Windows XP and later desktop releases.
This means that the more than 50 percent of the Redmond, Wash., software company's installed customer base, who still run Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows Millennium, will not be able to upgrade to Office 11 when it is released next year without first upgrading to at least Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 installed.
Angry Microsoft customers told eWEEK this was yet another move to try to force them to upgrade to newer versions of the operating system. Analysts have previously estimated that as many as 60 percent of Microsoft customers still use Windows 95 or Windows 98.
A Microsoft spokesman acknowledged the move and confirmed to eWEEK late Tuesday afternoon that Office 11 will only run on Windows 2000 SP3 and later releases. The product was primarily aimed at medium- to large-sized businesses, most of which are already using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, he said.
News source: eWEEK - Office 11 Snubs Windows 9x, Me
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