Microsoft Cuts Office XP and Application Prices Save 15 Percent on Productivity Suites, 30 Percent on Standalone Programs Eric Grevstad
Mon 6/2/03 -- The vast majority of users get their copies of Microsoft Office preinstalled on a PC instead of buying at retail, but Microsoft has put the world's top productivity programs on sale anyway: The estimated prices of Microsoft Office XP Standard and Professional have been reduced by approximately 15 percent, with the separate, boxed versions of four popular Office applications trimmed by some 30 percent.
Effective immediately, Microsoft Office XP Standard, formerly $479, is now $399; Microsoft Office XP Professional, formerly $579, is now $499. Microsoft Word 2002, Excel 2002, PowerPoint 2002, and Access 2002, each formerly $339, are now priced at $299 apiece.
The price cut doesn't affect the $149 Office XP Standard for Students and Teachers edition, which has been selling well (thanks in part, by many accounts, to somewhat lax enforcement of the only-for-qualified-scholars rule), nor the volume corporate licensing of the suite. The latter's Software Assurance policies, however, have been revamped with additional training, support, and deployment tools, including home-use rights that let employees install Microsoft Office System programs on both their business and home computers.
