Microsoft on Wednesday announced that Circuit City will be the first to offer a new Office subscription service, first known by its "Albany" code name and now dubbed "Equipt".
The purpose of this system is to convert more PC buyers into Office buyers. Typically when the average consumer buys a PC, a purchase of Microsoft Office is not the first thing on their mind, but rather security.
With this new service, Microsoft hopes to break that trend, and bundle a subscription version of Office Home and Student, along with Microsoft OneCare, for $69 per year.
Gordon said some less sophisticated users think they are getting a copy of Office as part of their PC purchase and are disappointed when they come home and find only a trial version of Office. "That"s when a lot of folks will start digging through the drawer for an old copy."
In the future, Microsoft hopes to expand this service to other retailers, and via other means such as computer distributers, and online methods.