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Microsoft has released the new version of Microsoft Works. Microsoft Works v9, the red-headed stepchild of Microsoft Office, is a free, ad supported office package offering word processing, spreadsheet and slideshow (Powerpoint) functionality.
Microsoft Works 9 may also someday be available as a Microsoft-hosted low-end productivity service, possibly through the company's Live services, which would put it head-to-head with Google Docs & Spreadsheets and Zoho. But for the moment, Works 9 will be limited to the desktop.
Regrettably, although there are some support documents online and a few torrents on Pirate Bay, there doesn't seem to be a way to download Works 9 from the Microsoft site.
Although I'll reserve judgment until Works is available, here's some interesting tidbits from the [Microsoft support site][2]:
* The OOXML file formats from Office 2007 will be supported (regrettably so will those archaic Works formats, which could confuse some users)
* XP 32-bit and 64-bit are both supported, but only the 32-bit version of Vista will work, as is the case with several other recent releases from Microsoft.
* The [minimum system requirements][3] might raise a few eyebrows. Not the XP version, which requires just 256MB of memory, but you the Vista version apparently needs 1GB in Vista Basic and a massive 1.5GB for Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate. And remember, that's the *mimimum*, not the recommended amount of RAM. That should put Firefox's memory usage in perspective.
For those that have forgotten about Microsoft Works, it includes an address book, calendar, database, dictionary, PowerPoint Viewer, basic Word, and some templates. Works began life as a Mac application way back in 1985.
In many respects Works is a stripped down version of the full-fledged Office suite, and has primarily continued its life as a default install on low-end PCs, though many manufacturer's have started following Microsoft's recommendation of pre-installing an Office demo instead.
We'll be sure to update this post as soon as there's a download link available.
[via [ZDNet][1]]
[1]: http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=604
[2]: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/ph/12025?cid=C_67306
[3]: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939451/en-us
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