There has been a converter our for versions of Windows Office as old as 2000, and yet we're still being offered a beta.

I suppose this beta nonsense is going to go on until the next version of Office is released, and even then it wouldn't surprise me if Microsoft were to pull an Apple BootCamp maneuver and withdraw/expire the beta or never finish it.

Customers are getting a rawer deal every year with these companies. Keep forking out the cash! This is what happens when there's no real competition in a "capitalist" marketplace. When was the last time there was a viable corporate competitor to Microsoft Office?