NOTHING COSTS MORE THAN IT USED TO:

Microsoft plans free, online version of Office: The technology titan tries to stop Google Docs from encroaching on its turf. (Alex Pham, July 14, 2009, LA Times)

Everyone predicted Microsoft Corp. wouldn't take long to fire back against Google Inc.'s latest foray into its home turf.

It took less than a week.

On Monday, Microsoft said it would offer a free version of its popular Office software suite that would run on the Internet.