[seul-edu] Re: MS software deals in Oz

[Leon Brooks <leon@brooks.fdns.net>]

On Tuesday 23 April 2002 05:32, Christopher Hill wrote:
>> Forty Pounds British for licensing?  How much for upgrades?

> Upgrades are included in the price. For £40 per computer you can use any
> version of the software (Windows, Office, Works, Visual Studio, Encarta),
> and also new versions when they are released at no extra cost. You do also
> have to buy a copy of the media CDs (which are admittedly over priced at
> £30), but you only need one copy).

I think you'll find that the upgrade deal is a bit more limited than first 
glance would suggest.

In Oz, the deal is a bit different. You can have (almost) any Microsoft 
software that was available at the time the deal was struck, plus new 
versions some limited time afterwards (IIRC), but the whole lot becomes 
illegal again at the end of the deal, unless a new deal is inked to replace 
the old one. How you say...? `Over a barrel, and waiting'?

Teachers are also allowed this deal on their home machines, BoC if they quit 
or the deal is renewed, they suddenly become potential BSAA customers unless 
they turn around and pay full price for whatever they installed. This means 
that MS gets *three* bites at the cherry: once when the teacher's home 
machine was shipped, once when the EdDept deal was struck, once when the 
teacher pays top dollar rather than lose access to all of their 
latest-Office-format files.

Cheers; Leon