Within the next few months Microsoft will start to offer Microsoft Works, their basic spreadsheet and word processing software in a free ad-supported version. Nothing new here as Eudora and others have offered this for years. Yet the fact that Microsoft ,who has always charged for such software, is following the Google ad-supported free software trend is in fact somewhat earth-shattering.  

Microsoft to test ad-supported version of Works

Reuters....August 2, 2007