The words "free" and "Microsoft" don't often appear in the same sentence, so imagine my surprise at discovering this deal: a free custom domain name, free Web hosting, free e-mail accounts, and more.
As you might expect from the name, Microsoft Office Live Basics has a decidedly business focus--but that doesn't mean you can't use it for a personal site.
The freebie account includes not only the domain (any available .com, .net, .org, or .info address), but also site-building tools, reporting tools, project and document managers, 100 e-mail addresses, and collaboration-minded online workspaces. You get 500MB of storage, too.
So what's the catch? There really isn't one, though the free domain hosting expires after one year. After that, it'll run you a very reasonable $14.95 annually.
Needless to say, this is a pretty nice offer for anyone looking to start a small business or just carve out a private corner of the Web.
