VERY cheap Microsoft software, 80+% discount...

Ronan H

Howdy, ive just started in DIT and the students union were in with us during our induction day giving us the usual money saving tips and in there was a pearl about a website called http://www.software4students.ie where you can get massively discounted versions of Microsoft Office / XP / Vista etc... if you are a student.

For example, today i purchased Microsoft Office Standard (Word, Excel, Powerpoint & Outlook). Usual price €529, i bought it for €78.06, an 85% saving. Now thats a bargain.

The full whack version of Office which is usually €1269 is on sale for €157.50 :eek:.

I know Microsoft get a lot of stick for being Micro$oft but i have to say fair play to them for this opportunity.

The potental downside is that you only get the CD and no manuals etc... but personally thats fine by me. They would probably go in the bin anyway as i find that the best way to learn is by playing around...

Theres a few games there too but id say they will be increasing their range of products as time goes on. Actually im gonna Email them and see what the score is with that, ill let yis know how i get on.

Just wanted to share that anyway, enjoy!

Head

green123

yeah its a good site but not new to bargain alerts

forbairt

Alternatively .... http://www.openoffice.org/ ... for the majority of your needs it'll do the job ... and its ... free

sdanseo

No secure socket layer? Pah, crap site. Plus you can't view products without registering. I'm sure the discounts are great but the website is pathetic and I'm not giving them all my details when I can't even see everything on offer.

duffman85

www.studentoptions.com is another similar site which lets get you get office professional plus for €95

I bought Office 2003 professional for €80 from them(last year when Office 2007 wasn't out) and downloaded it in an hour.

Can get Office 2003 Pro from for €69.98 now if you don't like the new interface in the 2007 version.

I think you will need your college e-mail address to get it.

Oracle

Another option is to save your cash and download a free 60 day trial of Office Professional 2007, directly from Microsoft. So no risk, and no initial cash outlay either. If you only needed it for a short time you could avoid having to buy MS Office at all. It's also ideal for learning if taking the ECDL, although the ECDL test using Office 2007 version is not widely available yet.

I'd recommend OpenOffice and Thunderbird as far better, more secure, completely free and open source. There's lots of viewers and converters for MS Office files available for download from the Microsoft web site. I think the OpenOffice team are working on the next release being able to open MS Office 2007 files. Of course MS have decided to change their default Word document format to .docx, not even Office 2003 versions can open this file format, without a plug-in. I suppose that's one way to get everyone to upgrade, despite the inconvenience to users. :mad:

Ronan H

I have been using OO for a long time now and i find that there are too many incompatibility issues between the OO and MS file types, even when you save files in the .doc format.

I need it for college and everything we receive from the college is exclusively made using MS Office programs so i want to eradicate any possible compatibility issues while i am in the course of my degree.

Prior to using OO i used to use "acquired" versions of MS Office all the time, for years, and i have always found it to be fine, very stable and met all my needs. As far as im concerned if i can get it legally for less than €80 then happy days.

OO software is very good, theres no doubt about that, but for me the reduced price has won the battle for Microsoft...

Head.doc

Oracle

Head wrote:

I need it for college and everything we receive from the college is exclusively made using MS Office programs so i want to eradicate any possible compatibility issues while i am in the course of my degree.

Therein lies the crux of the issue. All educational institutes, especially at third level, should be required to exclusively use open source, freely available software. Instead they use (mainly Microsoft) proprietary software. The user base just at third level is enormous, so it's a very important market for Microsoft. They know once a student starts using Word, Excel, Outlook etc.... at college, they'll more than likely continue afterwards. Additionally the fact that universities use their software gives Microsoft prestige and approval. Not to mention the financial incentives and donations Microsoft give the universities as well. So everyone's happy, except the user, who pays what is in effect, an extra charge just to be able to fully use their computer, and produce or read course work in college. It's almost like another college fee, it's completely undemocratic and unreasonable that colleges except students to buy and use proprietary software, and continue to have to pay for updated and compatible versions every few years.....

The recent European Court judgement, on appeal by Microsoft but whose verdict was upheld today, shows how Microsoft abuses their dominant position in software to freeze competitions out and give consumers less choice.

johnp

With regards versions and compatibility I remember hearing something that there will be a new open standard. Open Office has it and MS are following suit.

Anyone know about this?

Ronan H

Oracle wrote:

Therein lies the crux of the issue. All educational institutes, especially at third level, should be required to exclusively use open source, freely available software. Instead they use (mainly Microsoft) proprietary software. The user base just at third level is enormous, so it's a very important market for Microsoft. They know once a student starts using Word, Excel, Outlook etc.... at college, they'll more than likely continue afterwards. Additionally the fact that universities use their software gives Microsoft prestige and approval. Not to mention the financial incentives and donations Microsoft give the universities as well. So everyone's happy, except the user, who pays what is in effect, an extra charge just to be able to fully use their computer, and produce or read course work in college. It's almost like another college fee, it's completely undemocratic and unreasonable that colleges except students to buy and use proprietary software, and continue to have to pay for updated and compatible versions every few years.....

Thats a very good point, i hadnt thought of that. Well said...

In fairness though, if i wasnt so particular ( person at the back shouts out: "You mean ANAL" ) about stuff i could probably get over myself and just use OO and find ways around the incompatibility, but i prefer convenience over hassle, and if that means i have to pay a few quid then so be it. Not a very sensible way of going about things, but hey, thats me...

Anyway, good point again, i had never thought about that, it seems Microsoft have infiltrated everyehere, the dirty divils!

Particular Head

Oracle

johnp wrote:

With regards versions and compatibility I remember hearing something that there will be a new open standard. Open Office has it and MS are following suit. Anyone know about this?

Just to answer this, because I'm going way off-topic, you're right OpenOffice do have an open document standard called ODF that is approved by OASIS, published by ISO and IEC International Standard. However, (surprise, surprise) Microsoft also have their own partly proprietary format that they are looking for approval for. Unfortunately they have recently received approval from the NSAI here in Ireland for the standard, despite objections from at least one Irish Open Source users group. I don't think Microsoft plan on supporting the ODF standard within Office, although there is a translator plug-in available that allows reading and writing ODF files.

Capt'n Midnight

Oracle wrote:

It's almost like another college fee, it's completely undemocratic and unreasonable that colleges except students to buy and use proprietary software, and continue to have to pay for updated and compatible versions every few years.....

Let's not forget the original slap on the wrist for integrating IE into the Windows was a large fine of several Billion. But they were able to pay it by value offerings of software and IBM compatible PC's to american schools. Why did they need the PC's ? Because until then Mac OS and not windows was dominant in the education sector.

I am also a bit upset that the ECDL is so microsoft related. Lets not forget that governments have funded through scientific and education the development of software, particularly open source for the last 60 years.

/RANT

the nice thing about OO is that you can see it getting better all the time

90 day trial of office 2007 running on a 180 day trial of windows 2003 is most deffo a bargin, take into account breaks in college you'd only need to reinstall 5 times a year

fl4pj4ck

if you are studying anything IT related, you can purchase a copy of most of ms software for few quids from Microsoft Academic Alliance

for example you can get all windows systems, office, visual studio etc.
I am at LIT and its e10 per program there

jahalpin

I will definately get a copy when they release the deal here.

I have downloaded Openoffice and beleive that it is a piece of crap, it is badly designed and hard to use.

I have always used Microsoft Office (mainly through student licencing) and believe that it is the best office suite ever. When I was in first year in uni they used Corel Wordperfect suite and it was pretty bad.

As for the price charged for the full business professional version, 500e (@ retail, cheaper through volume licencing) is a small amount to pay for the increase in productivity that it provides the company, the basic edition is also avaliable through OEM's for around e180 which gives Word, Excel and Outlook the three most popular programs

Access is great for knocking up quick reports from an underlying database without having to get developers from outside who would charge thousands to "develop" the same thing.

axer

Oracle wrote:

All educational institutes, especially at third level, should be required to exclusively use open source, freely available software.

While I agree with you that they should use open source software, I don't agree that they should be forced to do so.

Binomate

Lol at buying office software packages.

kirving

I just wanna check, this site isn't a scam is it? My school is on the site, but would I have to ask them first before buying any software?

Ronan H

No its not a scam, although someone has mentioned above about the security of the website, but thats a different matter. No you dont have to ask your school / college first. It was my college that told me about the website in the first place...

@ Binomate: Whats your solution then? Download it illegally? From the tone of your post im going to assume thats what you are alluding to... If not i apologise, although i would like to know what your point is...

Thanks.

Secure Head

Binomate

I wasn't suggesting that anyone downloads it illegally. I was suggesting that you use alternative free software which is as good, if not better. Our lecturers in DIT distributed the majority of our notes and handouts over the web in MS office format too, which is ****. But I've got by with out having to purchase Microsoft Office.

Ronan H

Fair enough, i wasnt sure by the way it was phrased, i have used free alternatives myself for the past while but now that DIT will be distributing everthing in MS Office format i dont want to be dealing with the incompatibilities of OO when deadlines are looming large...

Head

AlmightyCushion

Head wrote:

Fair enough, i wasnt sure by the way it was phrased, i have used free alternatives myself for the past while but now that DIT will be distributing everthing in MS Office format i dont want to be dealing with the incompatibilities of OO when deadlines are looming large...

Head

Open Office can open office files.

Ronan H

I fear the shoe, and im also aware that OO can open MS Office files, but ive found too many issues with tables, macros etc... A right pain in the hole if you ask me. Im a believer in paying for exactly what i want as opposed to getting something close to what i want for free. Convenience wins out for me the majority of the time, and if it comes at a price then so be it. So in relation to MS Office, to get it for €78.00 is a winner for me over OO, however, i wouldnt pay €529.00 for MS Office.

Dont get me wrong, i think OO is a fantastic free alternative, but sometimes the little issues put me off...

Pernickity Head

AlmightyCushion

Head wrote:

I fear the shoe, and im also aware that OO can open MS Office files, but ive found too many issues with tables, macros etc... A right pain in the hole if you ask me. Im a believer in paying for exactly what i want as opposed to getting something close to what i want for free. Convenience wins out for me the majority of the time, and if it comes at a price then so be it. So in relation to MS Office, to get it for €78.00 is a winner for me over OO, however, i wouldnt pay €529.00 for MS Office.

Dont get me wrong, i think OO is a fantastic free alternative, but sometimes the little issues put me off...

Pernickity Head

I suppose it's only €80 and you know it will work and that you won't have any issues with it.

Ronan H

Bang on the money! Thats why id buy it...

Bang Head

bk

Head wrote:

So in relation to MS Office, to get it for €78.00 is a winner for me over OO, however, i wouldnt pay €529.00 for MS Office.

But what are you going to do when you leave college and you need to get Office?

You won't have any choice but to pay the MS tax because you will be so use to it by then, which is exactly what MS wants, get you hooked at a cheap price and then up the cost.

€80 for office is too much, never mind €529.

Think about this, you can buy an entire PC for less then €400, but a piece of software, that probably costs less then €5 per user to produce costs more then a PC, ridiculous.

jahalpin

bk wrote:

But what are you going to do when you leave college and you need to get Office?

You won't have any choice but to pay the MS tax because you will be so use to it by then, which is exactly what MS wants, get you hooked at a cheap price and then up the cost.

€80 for office is too much, never mind €529.

Think about this, you can buy an entire PC for less then €400, but a piece of software, that probably costs less then €5 per user to produce costs more then a PC, ridiculous.

The licence is a permanent licence, which is valid when you leave college.

Programmers have a weird habbit of wanting to get paid for their work so the development costs have to recouped through the price charged to the consumer. It works the same in all industries, most of the cost is in the development and marketing

GUIGuy

I'm one of those damned software developers that likes to get paid! My heart bleeds for those who think €80 is too much for MS Office. Well maybe it's too much for you coz you won't make proper use of it! Fair enough, if you think it's not worth it then self exclude and put up with the crappy free stuff!

But don't compalin if others (lecturers included) use whatever software they deem fit. If what they choose is free then great... but they're under no onus to use free software just to make your life easy! If it costs €1000 commercially then its up to whomever to decide for themselves what the price/performance ratio is. But remember educational establishments should train their students in the software they will use in their professional lives.

What would you rather use that €80 for? Think about it and what it says about your priorities. If you're happy with that then cool. If you're not then forego a few nights out, or that concert, or some phone credit, or a pair of jeans. €80 is cheap... stop whinning because you're being asked to invest in your own future.:rolleyes:

Just as a bit of info there are about 30 million lines of code in the current version of MSOffice... think how long it takes to write 30 million lines! (No I don't work for MS).

DemonOfTheFall

And as usual the open source zealots dive in to interrupt an unrelated thread. OO.o is muck, deal with it people! If there's a slower office suite around I haven't seen it. It's slow, java infested bloatware with a horrible UI.

Ronan H

Considering the package that it is i think its an incredible deal to be able to get it for less than €80.00, i dont see any reason for not buying it at such a reasonable price... I wouldnt buy it for €500.00+ purely because i couldnt afford to spend that much on a piece of software. If i could afford it and that was the only option, then i would pay the full price for it.

I have studied programming for a few years so im aware of what level of work goes into a piece of software, so when you consider what has gone into MSO then its hard to argue against the reduced price tag.

I think people compare MSO and OO.o on too much of a general basis, but its the subtle, small and unseen things that goes into a package like MSO that makes it somewhat better. You notice stuff like that as you use a package more and more, i have done anyway...

@ BK: JaHalpin has answered the question about using it after i finish college...

Incredible Head

Capt'n Midnight

Head wrote:

I have studied programming for a few years so im aware of what level of work goes into a piece of software, so when you consider what has gone into MSO then its hard to argue against the reduced price tag.

:rolleyes:

The first windows Vista DVD cost $10,000,000,000.00 to produce.
The second one cost 10 cents

Software is almost pure profit once you have covered the development costs, especially when you consider that manufacturing distribution and support are all outsourced.

As for the level of work, are you familiar with the concept of a buffer overrun or usabilty testing or the sheer IT overhead with keeping windows safe and patched and supporting the 90% of the product that users don't actually use.

/RANT

http://www.tech.co.uk/computing/software/news/vista-helps-microsoft-rake-in-the-cash?articleid=2012892299

Microsoft has previously admitted that Vista cost $10 billion (£5 billion) to develop.
...
Microsoft expects to rake in around $57 billion (£28.45 billion) before the end of the next financial year

Ronan H

Aah jaysus companies are companies and they generally function in order to make money, whats the big deal, this thread was started to highlight a good deal but it appears that an 85+% discount just isnt enough to keep people happy these days :rolleyes:

Happy Head