This is a good bid for consumers looking for free Office applications for their laptops, but Microsoft said the starter version of Office will have limited features and include only Excel and Word.

Microsoft offers with Office 2010 a free, ad-supported version of Office that runs in a web browser, according to CNET News, although users have to be connected to the internet to use it.

In related technology news for entrepreneurs, Microsoft is releasing the largest-ever batch of security bulletins for its operating systems and web servers next week. Small businesses will need to be on top of their game handling the latest updates, which affect nearly every Windows except XP.

Windows 7, which comes out for non-licensed users October 22, is among the affected operating systems. Many new PCs and laptops are coming pre-packaged with Windows 7, so business buyers of PCs may want to make sure their laptops are running the most up-to-date version.