Microsoft Office 2010 (beta)  is all set to be released soon. The company has launched a dedicated website for MS Office 2010 (Beta). The suite is set to be released in following three flavors;

• Office Home and Business 2010 Beta
• Office professional 2010 Beta
• Office Professional Plus 2010 Beta

A comparison of the three flavors is available the Office 2010 Beta website. Although no dates have been announced, but users may be able to download the Beta within a week’s time. A technical preview of the MS Office 2010 suite can be read at the MS Office 2010 website. The beta version will work till 31 October 2010, after that users will have to purchase the suite or go for a new installation of some previous MS Office version.

This may sound like good news but it is perceived that fewer people will make the switch, after all we are still not over from the MS Office 2007 hangover, or are we?

Almost all of us have played Bejeweled at one time or another, well if not played then at least we have seen people playing it. It is easy, small and addictive. Now comes Halloween Bejeweled, which features bats, bugs, pumpkins, chocolates and other Halloween stuff in place of the usual diamonds, hearts and gems.  The game can be played online as well as offline after downloading it off course. There is simple mode which has no time constraints and the Timed version is a little tough. There is a sizeable number of people playing it online always and stats are displayed on the main page, showing the population count.

In order to play the online version you need to have at least Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7 or later. For the offline version not much stringent hardware is required a Pentium, running XP and 64 MB of RAM.

The rules are simple just make a group of three or more similar shapes, horizontally or vertically in a line. You will get points for this and off course more shapes and items drop from above to fill the void created. It is as simple as clicking your mouse. Bonus points are granted for making a group of four or more shapes, besides Hints and Help is readily available. The trial version costs nothing and the full version is also available for under $10.

Finally Microsoft has released its long awaited free version of Antivirus which supersedes Windows Live OneCare after three months of extensive beta testing. The new tool has been renamed as “Microsoft Security Essentials” or MSE and serves the purpose of real time consumer antimalware which can fight against viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans.

MSE is available for Windows XP 32-bit, Windows Vista 32/64 bit and also for Windows 7 32-64 bit and on its base is Microsoft Windows defender.

The wait is almost over now! One of the most cherished game, that everyone must have played in their childhood now launches on a free, web based version. So to remind you of those great memories of White house and Palm street, Google has teamed up with Hasbro using Google Earth and Street view to turn the whole planet into board.

MONOPOLY is launching a game of property empire building on an unimaginable scale in a bid to uncover the greatest property magnate the world has ever known. The entire planet will be pitted against one another in an online game of MONOPOLY turning the globe into one giant game board! The project was made possible by using the street data from OpenStreetMap, combined with Google Maps, API tastic! Want to try? Stay tuned…..just few hours more.

This won’t be around for ever – the Street View version will only be available for four months from tomorrow, in a bid to promote Monopoly City, a 3D version of the board game. So make sure you catch it!

In a publicity stunt, Netflix subscribers will be able to watch “The wizard of Oz” in high–definition format via their streaming service.  Don’t worry even if you are not a subscriber you can still watch the move for free from http://www.netflix.com/wizardofoz . Existing subscribers will have to add movie to their queues.

This free showings will be available throughout the U.S. for 24 hours beginning at 9 a.m. EDT Oct. 3.

In addition to that Netflix is staging a free concert in New York’s Central Park on September 29. Key guest appearances include Jennifer Hudson, who will be performing songs from the film. Full movie will also be shown on an inflatable screen in Central park after the concert .Netflix currently has 10.6 million subscribers in US.