What the Office team will be talking about at CES

Heading into the new year, the Microsoft Office team is motivated more than ever by what we’re hearing about customers’ experiences with Office 2010. Many people think Office is just for the workplace, but millions of people are using Office at home, at school and for their small businesses to get things done. For instance:

  • According to the NPD Group, Office Home and Student was the number one selling PC software product -- including games! -- at retail in the U.S. during the week of Black Friday 2009.
  • Office Home and Student was one of Amazon.com’s top 3 Hot Holiday Bestseller software products in 2009.

Meanwhile the Office 2010 beta is generating record interest and use, surpassing the previous Office 2007 beta download rate. In just seven weeks, more than two million people around the world have downloaded and are using the Office 2010 beta. To get a better appreciation for that number, it’s a rate of more than 40,000 downloads per day. That’s approximately twice the number of people who run the Boston Marathon each year, or the entire population of Olympia, WA, or Annapolis, MD, downloading the Office 2010 beta every day!

Most importantly, 9 out of 10 beta users feel that the Office 2010 beta is an improvement over their current productivity suite.

How much will Office 2010 cost?

In addition to the great momentum statistics, we are also releasing Office 2010 U.S. retail pricing today. Office 2010 will be offered in four versions, to make it easier to choose a version of Office that’s best for you – Office Home and Business, Office Professional, Office Home and Student, and Office Professional Academic. Here’s a chart that outlines the features and pricing for each version.

Version Boxed Product Product Key Card
Office Home and Student $149 $119
Office Home and Business $279 $199
Office Professional $499 $349
Office Professional Academic $99 N/A
  • Office Home and Student boxed product is available in a Family Pack, allowing usage on three PCs in one house
  • Purchase rights for Office Home and Business, Office Professional, and Office Professional Academic boxed product allow for usage on two of your PCs.
  • The Product Key Card is valid for a single installation of the product.

Or click here to download a more detailed guide to each edition.

We’re committed to making Office 2010 the best productivity suite ever, and making it easier for everyone to try, buy and use Office.

Rachel Bondi, General Manager, Microsoft Office