Microsoft to Start Charging for Office 2007 Beta 2

The Redmond Company has announced, as of July 28, the decision to put a price tag on its Office 2007 Beta 2. Although far from a substantial amount, the price aims foremost at limiting the extent of downloads Microsoft is experiencing with its latest Office Suite. As with Vista, Microsoft expected to experience a similar high level of demand with its Office application, as the two applications are at the core of the company's revenue and success.

The Redmond Company has announced that Office 2007 Beta 2 has reached the 3 million downloads milestone, and that it will implement a payment system for any additional downloads. Microsoft stated that it is going to charge $1.5 for a single download come August 2. This measure was deemed necessary considering that the demand for Microsoft's latest Office Suite has bested all expectations by 500% and that average downloads ranging from 550MB to 2GB have, like was the case with Vista, stretched Microsoft's network capabilities to their maximum.

"It can kind of be equated to the shipping and handling charge that has been required for a physical DVD of the beta," a Microsoft representative said. "Another option would be to simply take the download offline and not make it available anymore, but we are still seeing significant interest in the beta and want to provide it as an option for those interested. It really speaks well for the product and the excitement surrounding it that after 2 months and over 3M downloads, it's still going strong."