Until today, I’ve been very reluctant to address Microsoft’s mentality toward the enlightened small business and freelance business.

Microsoft released Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007 for free. Yes, for free. Their disclaimer even says, “no strings”. I have not tested the “no strings” claim.

This is the not the first free product they’ve offered to keep brand value high and entice business users to migrate to their paid software once the free versions are not powerful enough. Windows Defender, SQL Server Express, and LiveWriter are other examples. Their upgrade cohorts are ISA (in a sense), SQL Server Workgroup and above, and Word.

Maybe the new leadership is changing the thinking in Redmond…