By Dawn Kawamoto
Monday, July 31 2006 10:06 AM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,39378885,00.htm

Microsoft plans this week to charge a nominal fee for Office 2007 Beta 2 downloads, a move that runs counter to the practice held by most software companies.

Consumers who download the 2007 Microsoft Office system Beta 2 will be charged US$1.50 per download, beginning Wednesday at 6 p.m. PDT, a Microsoft representative said.

"Since the end of May, Beta 2 has been downloaded more than 3 million times...That's 500 percent more than what was expected," the representative said.

"The fee helps offset the cost of downloading from the servers."

Although Microsoft's Information Worker Product Management Group decided to initiate a fee for new users of Beta 2, the "technical refresh," or update, for current users of the software will remain free, the representative said.

Those who want to test drive Beta 2 to see how it works can access the software for free. But if they want to test it against their internal systems, a download or the CD is required.

"This is the first time Microsoft has charged for an Office beta, and it's not something that is planned for on a repeat basis," the representative said.