Microsoft to take on Google with a free Office version

Microsoft will release a free version of its dominant Office software that users can access over the web, catching up with products that arch rival Google launched three years ago.

The world's largest software maker will offer a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software and a note-taking program with the same look and feel of their counterparts in the Office suites that it sells for personal computers.

It is the latest salvo in an intensifying war between the two technology giants. Google announced plans last week to challenge Windows with a free operating system. Microsoft introduced a new search engine, Bing, last month that has taken a small amount of market share from Google.

A free version of Office could hurt sales of Microsoft's top-selling and most profitable business unit. One of Office's most popular titles is a home version that sells for $150 (Dh551). It includes the four programs that Microsoft will give away.

"Microsoft is in a tough spot. Their competition isn't just undercutting them. They are giving away the competitive product," said Sheri McLeish, an analyst with Forrester Research.

The Office division rang up operating profit of $9.3 billion on sales of $14.3bn in the first three quarters of the firm's current fiscal year. Microsoft will seek to make money by using the free version to lead users to its ad-supported websites. Microsoft will release the free offering sometime in the first half of next year.

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