Microsoft avails Office for Mac trial

Four months after it debuted Office for Mac 2011, Microsoft last week unveiled the first free trial of the application suite, according to Computer World.

The trial version of Office for Mac Home and Business 2011 includes fully-functional versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, the suite's word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager and e-mail client.

Users can run the trial edition for 30 days. Microsoft has used try-before-you-buy for its Mac Office before; two years ago it offered a 30-day trial for Office for Mac 2008.

In a first, grape farmers in Nasik, India, are planning their harvest and managing inventory and production using an enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, reports the Times of India.

The move reflects a growing shift in the way sophisticated software applications can be used by the masses. Traditional ERP software sold by top multinational vendors such as Oracle and SAP help companies like Hero Honda and ONGC automate and integrate their complex processes of sales, marketing, production, inventory and finance.

But over 100 farmers across Maharashtra and Gujarat are showing that such sophisticated applications can be put to simple use, according to the report.

Verizon has made Google Apps available as part of its SME bundles, states Information Week.

Customers who combine Internet with either voice or TV services (or both) from Verizon will get three Google Apps user accounts included at no extra cost, as well as a domain name free for one year.

Google Apps for Verizon continues an apparent trend of the telecom partnering with major software providers to wrap business applications around its core phone and broadband products - with the goal of being a one-stop technology shop.