Microsoft just announced that they are about to offer higher education students Office 2007 Ultimate for just $60. The Ultimate version includes several different programs, including OneNote. The retail price for Office 2007 Ultimate is over $600.

My guess is that few university and college students use legitimate purchased copies of Microsoft Office. Its simply too expensive for a student struggling to pay for tuition, housing, books, etc. So I suspect most would use either “unlicensed” copies, online ASP options such as Google, or freeware options such as open office.

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. My prediction is that they will sell a significant number of copies at that price – and make far more than they would have from the existing student pricing for a version that does not include as much software. And any move that gets more Microsoft product to the student community is good for Microsoft.

If this works as I suspect it will, the entertainment industry should take note – ie how to reduce piracy and make more money by selling your product for less.

Read the Microsoft announcement