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A stalwart of corporate IT spending is Microsoft Office. Here’s CNET’s review of the latest version:

 

Rick Broida at CNET is asking a provocative question: Does it still make sense to buy Microsoft Office?

I ask because I'm in the process of "divorcing" Outlook, a program I've grown to hate with a passion, and I continue to find the rest of Office 2010 to be overkill for my home-office purposes. Unless Microsoft does the unthinkable and prices Office 2013 around $50, I won't be buying it -- no matter how sexy it might be.

Brioda goes on to make a pretty compelling case for consumers to skip this version. Will enterprises follow suit? I don’t think so. Office is the ultimate sticky app, with customers wary of losing access to content created with legacy versions. Less certain though is whether Microsoft’s Metro interface and tablet-friendliness will open enterprise doors for Surface. It’s a smart play for Microsoft to use a monopoly in one area to wedge open a market for another.

Wait: I’ve seen this movie before. Let’s hope it comes out differently this time.