Microsoft Charging For Officelive.com Domain:”Very Competitive” $14.95: Why Not Office.com

Microsoft has been allowing people for free to set up shop using basically a subdomain such as for example:

http://youroldcustomdomainname.web.officelive.com.

Sure is a mouthful.

Today Microsoft,  announced that starting October 1, customers will have to pay for renewing their domain, $14.95 per year saying:

“An annual domain renewal fee of $14.95 per year will be due at the time of the domain renewal date”

“This pricing compares very favorably in the marketplace.”"

I have 2 questions:

1.  Favorable to whom?

$14.95 for a subdomain is 40% more than Godaddy charges or Moniker and double of Fabulous.  It is cheaper than Network Solutions and register.com which still charge $35 a domain.

2.  Why not take this opportunity to switch everyone over the much better, recently acquired domain, office.com?

The pitch would then be we are going to start charging you, but you are going to get a much better, shorter and easier address in  .office, than the current .web.officelive.com

Seems like a better idea and a missed opportunity.

Here is the official notice from Microsoft: