$3.60 For Windows XP & Office 2007?

By Greg McNevin

April 20, 2007: In what appears to be a bid to increase, or at very least hang on its 90% market share, Microsoft will soon be offering a heavily discounted suite of its core applications to students.

Called the "Microsoft Student Innovation Suite" and announced by Bill Gates in Beijing yesterday, the deal is an expansion of Microsoft’s "Unlimited Potential" strategy to help bring computers to students in developing nations.

For a tiny US$3 (AU$3.60) the suite includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Windows Live Mail desktop, Microsoft Math 3.0 and Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office.

The software will come preloaded on PC’s subsidised by governments in developing nations such as India, China, and other countries where governments offer help getting tools to poorer students.

While Microsoft says the move is altruistic in nature, it’s hard to not see the offer as a means to increase its software footprint and defend against the growing popularity of open source alternatives.

The move could also help stamp out piracy as the incentive to use risky cracked software is greatly diminished if low-cost alternatives exist - one of the great selling points for Linux.

Earlier this year Microsoft offered Aussie students a hefty discount on Office 2007, while there is a great distance between that $25 deal and this seemingly token $3.60, both show that Microsoft has more than just “new and improved” tricks up its sleeve to hold on to its lofty position.

Comment on this story