Microsoft Dumps Equipt, Hurts Entrepreneurs

It's getting ugly out in Redmond.

Slowing consumer spending and cranky investors are forcing even typically forward-looking technology companies to cut back on good ideas and product lines that aren't immediately producing returns.

Last week, Microsoft (MSFT) did just such pruning. The software giant is taking an excellent product, Equipt, out to the woodshed. And the move has significant ramifications for small-business owners.

What happened? Once invulnerable Microsoft said it will stop selling Equipt, its excellent subscription-based office automation and security product, on April 30.

Introduced in July, Equipt is the rare Redmond offering: software for individuals and, to a certain extent, small offices that works, as advertised, right out of the box. For $70 a year, users get not one, but three, licenses for software that turns any computer into a do-it-all workhorse. Equipt offers everything: Word, Excel, security software and email.

Even better, the software runs from a single disc. No two-hour loading like other Microsoft software. No backing the discs up or struggling with support. Users just need Web access, the right security codes and a half-hour. And poof, you're in business.

I love Equipt. I've been using the software on test computers from Dell (DELL), Sony (SNE) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) with great success. It's flexible, stable and easy to use. It made me look forward to more subscription-based offerings from Microsoft.

Equipt had to die, company spokespeople said, because Microsoft is getting rid of OneCare, its unsuccessful security software. Without OneCare, Equipt made little sense, they said.