Microsoft Works to be Free

Works free but will be ad-driven

With all the hype being gathered up by Microsoft Office 2007, there is a tendency to forget about Microsoft's other office suite known as Microsoft Works.
For many years, Works has been seen by many as the less-expensive, bare-essentials version of Office. While Works has always been a somewhat attractive option due to its low price, competition from OpenOffice and Google Docs & Spreadsheets has forced Microsoft to do something drastic: release Microsoft Works 9.0 for free.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Search & Advertising, recently said that the upcoming release of Works, presumably titled Works 9.0, will definitely be funded by advertisements. A free, ad-driven version of Works has been in Microsoft's plans for some time.