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

I bought a notebook computer recently for my daughter that came with Vista home premium. My first impression after playing with it for a few days is that I like Vista much better than XP. It connected with my home network quickly and easily – printing from a printer attached to another computer was a breeze. Much easier than when I initially set up my network using XP a few years ago.

So in my view – if one is buying a new computer – the only reason not to get Vista is if there is still some compatibility problem with some corporate software you have. I question though whether upgrading a current computer from XP to Vista is worth it by the time you invest in the cost of Vista, hardware upgrades and time. If you want to do that, you might as well refresh the entire box.

My dilemma now is that the main computer I use at home is a few years old, and while it works fine, its starting to feel old – might just have to get a new one sooner rather than later. And after using a widescreen notebook – have to have a widescreen monitor.

(Disclosure – yes, I am an occasional guest blogger on Microsoft’s IT Managers blog – but its not for compensation, and Microsoft had nothing to do with my computer purchase.)

I was away at a conference most of last week, hence the lack of entries. (OK – so it wasn’t technically a conference – I took my son to the Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles.)

The trip put my recently acquired HTC Excalibur smartphone to the test. (Rogers just started offering it in Canada – its the same phone as the T-Mopbile Dash.) It worked extremely well. The Windows Mobile 5 operating system ties in nicely with the desktop.

It has wifi which helps reduce those data roaming charges. I was able to connect to free wifi in airports, the hotel, and the LA convention centre to keep on top of email, and to keep in touch with home.

Look at the HTC on the Rogers site

That’s the title of an article in the latest McLean Report, a regular newsletter of the Info-Tech Research Group. I suspect most law firms will upgrade to Vista at the time of their next hardware refresh – not before.

Personally, I think the recently announced Microsoft Office Communications Suite that provides unified messaging has the potential to have a greater impact on law office productivity than Vista.

The McLean Report is only available by paid subscription, but the article is reproduced here with their permission.

Read the Info-Tech article

Go to the Info-Tech web site

Read a ZDNet article on Microsoft Office Communications Suite

One of Vista’s “features” is that it can downgrade high definition content if it decides proper licensing or authorization is not in place. That ties in with the restrictions designed into HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

It seems that this DRM has already been cracked. So the new HD disk formats and Vista are barely here, and the DRM can be defeated on all of them.

Boing Boing has a good piece on the Vista hack and the Montreal man that created it. One interesting angle is that he is afraid to release too much for fear of violating US law, even though he is in Canada, and it may not violate Canadian law.

Read the Boing Boing article

Read a Toronto Star article by Michael Geist that talks about Vista fine print and the DRM issue

Windows Vista debuts tomorrow. Should business be in a hurry to adopt it?

A lot has been written about this recently. A Google search on “Vista” will get lots of reviews and opinions.

The bottom line is that if you are getting new PC’s – there is no reason not to get Vista on them. The only caveat is that you should ask your software vendors first if their products are ready to run on Vista.

Upgrading existing machines to Vista is probably not worth it for most. While Vista does have some compelling features, for the most part the time and effort and cost to install Vista, (including any costs for PC upgrades) outweighs the advantages.

The best place to be right now is to have PC’s that are near the end of their life cycle, and due for replacement late this year. That makes the upgrade to Vista easy, and gives some time for any production bugs to be worked out.

And when evaluating Vista, think about Office 2007, and Exchange 2007. Certain features in Vista – like unified messaging – may require upgrades to Exchange as well.

The Consumer Electronic Show is now on in Las Vegas, and MacWorld starts today.

The CES has its usual array of new and improved electronics, and Apple is expected to announce new products today as only Apple can.

One common theme is getting digital content from our PC’s to our living room. Whether one is a fan of Apple or Microsoft, or thinks that those from the PC world should just stay out of the living room, the competition is good for consumers.

One thing Apple does best is to get product on the shelves immediately after its announcement. Most manufacturers announce products that are not available for months.

Both CES and Macworld are getting lots of press.

For details take a look at sites like Gizmodo and Engadget

I disconnected from the blogosphere over Christmas, so missed the kerfuffle over Microsoft’s delivery of 90 computers loaded with Vista to selected blogers.

The reason, of course, was to get some publicity about Vista.

Many have commented about the ethics of this. I tend to side with the view that this is more about disclosure than anything. If one comments on something they received for free, or is being paid to adopt a position on something, be up front about it.

Vendor product giveaways for reviews and publicity is hardly a novel concept.

Microsoft is one of those successful corporations that some will bash regardless of what they do. Its important to look at issues like this based on the facts – not one’s inherent bias. (And yes, that’s often easier said than done.)

Take a look at Dave Taylor’s piece on this which has links to various comments, via Techmeme

In an interview, Bill Gates comments that DRM causes huge problems and “too much pain for legitmate buyers.”

Couple that with a Techdirt article about eMusic being very successful selling music without DRM.

So forget DRM – or at least find a way to make it work in a way that does not cause the pain.

Read a Boing Boing comment on Bill Gates’ comment

Read the Techdirt post

ITBusiness.ca reports that Microsoft has announced that Vista and Office 2007 will be available to corporate customers this month. Consumers will have to wait until January.

So the question is – are you an early adopter wanting to be the first to upgrade – or would you rather wait a bit and let others sort out whatever initial issues might arise?

Read the ITBusiness.ca article