Stories by Richard Ericson

Office Live Small Business goes a la carte

Microsoft's Office Live Web service was designed for small businesses that needed an easy, low-cost solution for creating and hosting Web sites and business-branded e-mails. When it was first introduced in November 2006, there were three versions: Basics (free), Essentials (US$19.95 per month) and Premium (US$39.95 per month). The latest, reconfigured version -- now called Microsoft Office Live Small Business (MOLSB) -- simplifies things by offering a single service with a number of for-pay add-ons.

The lowdown on Office 2007

Simplify, simplify, simplify. The challenge for Microsoft in revamping Office was to better organize all the options available without negatively impacting productivity. For new users that's a particularly important goal, since the menus and toolbars in current versions may appear to be a mishmash.