Photos: Is Tesco more trustworthy than Microsoft?

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Find out what punters say as Tesco's £20 software hits the shelves

Tesco's range of budget office, security and multi-media PC software finally hit the shelves this month, with the supermarket giant claiming it will take a chunk out of a market dominated by the likes of Microsoft.

Tesco's Complete Office suite is currently on the shelves at £19.97, compared with a price tag of £300 to £500 for the various versions of Microsoft Office. Microsoft says it welcomes the competition but argues that Tesco's software is functionally equivalent to Microsoft Works rather than Office.

But will Tesco's PC software be a hit with the punters? It's too early to tell but a silicon.com poll of almost 600 readers asked who they trusted more to make quality software - Microsoft or Tesco. The result was surprisingly close with 51 per cent voting for Microsoft and 49 per cent voting for Tesco.

Image credit: Tesco

Published: November 29, 2006 -- 15:10 GMT (07:10 PST)
Caption by: Andy McCue
Tesco's Complete Office suite is essentially a re-branded version of the old Ability Office software developed for the retail giant by Formjet Innovations, but with more features and a cheaper price tag. It contains all the usual suspects, including a word processor called Write, a spreadsheet, database, PowerPoint-style presentation application and graphics software.

Tesco buyer Daniel Cook claims the company's own-brand software is "bringing choice and value to a market that has offered little of either for too long".

But Microsoft's new UK MD Gordon Frazer said in a recent interview with silicon.com: "Consumers will vote with their wallets. We firmly believe in the value proposition of Office. We're not going to compete with 'free' on the basis of cutting our price, we actually compete with 'free' by being a better product."

Image credit: Tesco

Published: November 29, 2006 -- 15:10 GMT (07:10 PST)
Caption by: Andy McCue
silicon.com recently purchased a copy of Tesco's Complete Office for £19.97 and hit the computer shops on London's Tottenham Court Road to find out what the reaction on the street is.

Harjiv Sehgal, a staff member at retailer GHS Technology, questioned exactly who Tesco is aiming the software at. "Anyone who wants Microsoft Office will buy that. But if you are going to buy your computer in Tesco you are not going to spend hundreds of pounds on Microsoft Office," he said.

Sehgal said many people would also probably opt for a cheap illegal copy of Microsoft Office rather than pay £20 for the basic Tesco equivalent.

Photo credit: Andy McCue

Published: November 29, 2006 -- 15:10 GMT (07:10 PST)
Caption by: Andy McCue
Nish Patel, manager at retailer Micro Anvika, said Microsoft dominates the desktop market and that people will be dubious about buying a brand of software they don't know anything about, even if it is Tesco.

"For a beginner it will be fine but for any office user it won't. People who buy the low-end software won't know much about computers. Tesco for a can of baked beans, yes, but for computer software, no," he said.

Sai Casey, a staff member at retailer Gultronics, added: "I don't think Tesco can compete with Microsoft and there are also free online office applications now as well as things like OpenOffice."

Photo credit: Andy McCue

Published: November 29, 2006 -- 15:10 GMT (07:10 PST)
Caption by: Andy McCue
One computer shopper who did not wish to be named said they would not buy PC software from Tesco, citing doubts about what the helpdesk support would be like.

But David Nazare, director at IT shop Samuel King (pictured), said he believes Tesco does have a chance of taking on Microsoft because of the price difference.

"Tesco is a decent big-brand name and some people will try it out. It's going to be very hard for another company to come into the market but good luck to Tesco. The competition is good," he said.

Photo credit: Andy McCue

Published: November 29, 2006 -- 15:10 GMT (07:10 PST)
Caption by: Andy McCue