I see many people complaining that OUTLOOK no longer comes with their device, and they also complain that they cannot sync with Vista Mail. So this Office subscription service might answer these complaints. Cnet.com reports on this here.

Does this impact mobile devices?

I mean, there are WM devices showing up without Pocket Office, which is a ludicrous omission, IMHO. Remove a key differentiator over your opposition. Yeah, that's some amazing business decision-making right there.

This impacts mobile devices as many people ask what they sync with on their PC. This is another way of purchasing OUTLOOK. I like the fact that it looks like the subscription method offers updates to new versions as well.

I went and found the official MS press-release about Albany, and from what I can tell Outlook is NOT part of the subscription service. It appears that the Albany suite packages Office Home & Student with OneCare and some other products. This appears very much to be targeted at home consumers, and not so much the mobile professional...

It seems a shame to leave OUTLOOK out - surely home users use this just as much as the rest of the programs in the OFFICE suite, if not more? It would be interesting to know the numbers.

I started a new thread about desktop Office Outlook here. 

This service is now official and for sale. Microsoft Equipt is available for $70 per year.

It includes..

• Windows Live OneCare
  All-in-one security and performance includes antivirus, antispyware, firewall, file and photo backup, performance tune-ups, and home network management to help keep your PC running at its peak.

• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
  Word 2007: Create great-looking documents with ease.
  Excel 2007: Intuitive spreadsheet tools let you create budgets and more.
  PowerPoint 2007: Design stunning presentations for family, school or volunteer activities.
  OneNote 2007: Organize different kinds of information — text, images, audio and video, Web clippings, and more — in one digital notebook.

• Microsoft Office Live Workspace
  This new service from Office makes it easy for you to save documents to a dedicated online Workspace and share these with friends and classmates.

• Windows Live tools
  Windows Live Mail. Get all your e-mail in one place.
  Windows Live Messenger. Send instant messages to your friends or have a video chat.
  Windows Live Photo Gallery. Organize and share photos.
  And more, including Windows Live Writer and Windows Live Toolbar.

• Automatic updates and upgrades.
  Office Home and Student version upgrades plus automatic security updates and OneCare upgrades.

ZDNet has a good article about it.