Uh, let's see. Cabbage. Baked beans. Marmite. Paper towels. Word processor. That's how your grocery list might read if you shop at Tesco, one of the U.K.'s two biggest supermarket chains. Already selling Internet access and mobile phones, the company that fills British fridges with fish fingers will soon begin offering a software suite that will compete directly with Microsoft Office. Developed by Cambridge-based Formjet, Tesco's Office clone will be sold in stores and on the Web alongside security, personal-finance, CD/DVD-burning, and photo-editing software. The price will be £20 each, or just under $38 in real money (oops, I'm an Ugly American, sorry). That a lot less than the £298.97 for which Microsoft Office Standard Edition 2003 is selling on Amazon.co.uk. Listen, I'm perfectly happy to be typing this on a Windows XP PC, but if this isn't a good reason to sell your Microsoft stock, nothing is. There's only one better deal on the market, and that's the open-source OpenOffice. Price: free. — Al Boline

Via The Guardian