A lot of people when buying a new computer don’t realize that Microsoft Office does not come pre-installed on the machine (well it might but it’ll be a trial evaluation copy). They might have stretched their budget to get the computer and don’t have the extra hundred dollars to purchase Office. So what now? It’s not widely publicized, but Microsoft offers a free online but slimmed down version of Excel, Word, Powerpoint and OneNote. The software is located here and requires you to sign in with your Microsoft Live account, which you can create for free. It doesn’t have all the functionality of a full Office install but for the most part it works and let’s you access simple Word and Excel files. I will note that Microsoft also has a slimmed down installed version of Office called “Office Starter” (it is a limited functionality Word and Excel). It only installs on Vista and Windows 7 and is supported by pop up advertisements. This version is becoming commonly installed on new computers and is not an evaluation. A link has recently been leaked to how to download the software from Microsoft’s website but this is not an official download and will be considered piracy if you download and install it.
