[ctdonath]

It's a loss leader intended to retain users. Most of us have used Office regularly at some point, but many of us have drifted away as other non-Windows platforms became viable (Linux, OS X, iOS, Android) and adherence to the new ecosystem overcame adherence to the Office platform. We'd like to have Office available, if only for basic compatibility re: viewing & simple editing, but at $10/mo or $X00/flat we're satisfied with hacked-up translation to other ecosystem-standard suites (OpenOffice, Pages/Numbers/etc). Microsoft starts seeing the departure numbers growing rather high, and if they're smart (!) they will - and are - release[ing] something which persuades users to maintain a stake in the Office suite: free (albeit stunted) apps costing users nothing more than a shrug & download.

I'd rather give up on Office entirely, but its relative ubiquity plus free apps mean I'll let the camel stick its nose back under my tent.

[bachmeier]

These days, in many contexts, it's perfectly fine to ask someone to resend a file in a different format so it works with all devices. You can't always do that with business-related documents, but you're most likely using a laptop or desktop for that work anyway.

[zacharycohn]

I wouldn't exactly call Office a "loss leader" when it's MS's highest revenue division (circa 2012: http://www.tannerhelland.com/4273/microsoft-money-updated-20...).

[ctdonath]

The thread is about the _free_ MS Office apps being released today. I'm not paying for the $10/mo versions, but heck yeah I'll download the "loss leader" free versions, however crippled they may be.