The business launch of Microsoft Office 2010 is now two days away, and discussions are continuing online over the decision to upgrade. Regardless of the size of your business, upgrading to the newest version of Microsoft’s popular Office product isn’t necessarily a no-brainer.

In addition to the usual questions around increased functionality available in the new version for current 2003 or 2007 users, there are many “freeware” options available now that offer a level of competition that didn’t exist several years ago. Some companies are even starting to integrate these freeware programs into their offering to employees. Newer employees, or employees who don’t need the full Office suite for their everyday job, are being offered tools such as Google Docs, Zoho, or Open Office. Each freeware offering has its good and bad points, and satisfaction with them often depends on whether the user is familiar with the full functionality of Word or Excel—but, you know, they’re FREE. Microsoft has even developed a product to compete with these freeware offerings, but it’s nowhere near as powerful as their retail product.

Dedicated Office users will naturally have to evaluate the 2010 enhancements based on the usefulness of those new features to themselves or their organization. Office 2003 users will have to take into account the ever shrinking support for their release that Microsoft is providing, as well as their eagerness to learn how to work with the ribbon. The 2010 release improves the way the ribbon works and can be managed, but it’s still a pretty big culture shock for people who aren’t familiar with it.

We have clients in both camps. Those who want to stick with Office 2003 until its last dying breath, and those who are eager to upgrade to the newest version. What are you or your company planning? What are your thoughts about the new Office upgrades? Do you use freeware in your organization in addition to the Office suite? Share your thoughts with us.