View Full Version : And they wonder why people are ditching windows
mamamia88
December 20th, 2011, 09:52 PM
I just got an email in my university email stating that they are renogtiating their terms with Microsoft for their software. In the email they stated that if you had bought the software from the bookstore and if you graduate before a certain date you can continue to use it but if you remain a student after the current agreement ends that you have to uninstall the software and destroy the media. They then say you are allowed to repurchase the software at these prices
o Macintosh:
§ Office 2011 SELECT (Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Word-for Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later) - $78.90
o Windows:
§ Office Professional Plus 2010 SELECT - $ 89.45
§ Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade SELECT (32-bit) - $100.93
§ Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade SELECT (64-bit) - $100.93
Thanks but no thanks. Microsoft doesn't need linux or apple to destroy them they will do it themselves with arbitray ******** like this. And these are the student prices which are lower than retail
inobe
December 20th, 2011, 09:58 PM
but you need windows because of it's tight vendor lock in!
keithpeter
December 20th, 2011, 10:48 PM
Hello mamamia88
Using Ubuntu can you authenticate to the network in your University?
Are you studying MS Office as a subject in its own right, e.g. taking word-processing classes based on Word or using MS Excel pivot tables in your statistics assignments?
If not, consider simply submitting PDF files for assignments or exporting LibreOffice documents to MS Office formats and submitting those. If you use a lot of mathematical formulas, I'd go with PDF submission or look at LaTeX, perhaps via Lyx the graphical editor.
I've been getting away with using free software for years (I'm a teacher), and no-one notices the difference. I just have Portable LibreOffice on a usb stick when I have to use windows.
cheers
LowSky
December 20th, 2011, 10:52 PM
if you already installed it, then how are they to revoke it?
WinterMadness
December 20th, 2011, 10:52 PM
Hello mamamia88
Using Ubuntu can you authenticate to the network in your University?
Are you studying MS Office as a subject in its own right, e.g. taking word-processing classes based on Word or using MS Excel pivot tables in your statistics assignments?
If not, consider simply submitting PDF files for assignments or exporting LibreOffice documents to MS Office formats and submitting those. If you use a lot of mathematical formulas, I'd go with PDF submission or look at LaTeX, perhaps via Lyx the graphical editor.
I've been getting away with using free software for years (I'm a teacher), and no-one notices the difference. I just have Portable LibreOffice on a usb stick when I have to use windows.
cheers
this. most microsoft software can be ignored. most people probably have no need for something like word, even if its light years better than oo
drooze
December 21st, 2011, 12:08 AM
if you already installed it, then how are they to revoke it?
If you pay for software, you never own it. You are allowed to use it under their terms, and for as long as they allow you...
kurt18947
December 21st, 2011, 01:03 AM
If you pay for software, you never own it. You are allowed to use it under their terms, and for as long as they allow you...
Dirty little secret, isn't it? Or if not a secret, it's certainly NOT widely known outside IT circles.
Primefalcon
December 21st, 2011, 01:55 AM
no surprises for me.... but since Libreoffice and read or write to word formats just fine....
Just tell your fellow students about Ubuntu and LibreOffice, and that they can use it for free!
BTW, what uni is this?
LowSky
December 21st, 2011, 03:34 AM
If you pay for software, you never own it. You are allowed to use it under their terms, and for as long as they allow you...
yeah i know that, what i meant was MS will never know you graduated from college.
aysiu
December 21st, 2011, 04:48 AM
People are ditching Windows? Almost everyone I know who isn't a tech geek uses either Windows or Mac OS X. Do you mean they're ditching Windows for Mac?
Primefalcon
December 21st, 2011, 05:16 AM
People are ditching Windows? Almost everyone I know who isn't a tech geek uses either Windows or Mac OS X. Do you mean they're ditching Windows for Mac?
Not that many people use mac either, I think honestly its even people Mac and Linux (not factoring in the IPhone or anything else, just the desktops).
ON the desktop anyhow there is only one Magor OS Marketshare wise and that is Windows, nothing else is relevant.
guyver_dio
December 21st, 2011, 09:06 AM
Linux desktop (excluding servers) wouldn't be equal with mac, mac has at least cemented itself in one industry and that's creative design. Anything from music/video/3d modelling studios to photo and image manipulation is usually mac's domain. Not to mention the marketing is constantly shoved in your face and it's available in most stores. Linux may have wriggled it's way into some IT places but I've never worked in a place yet that fully uses a linux distro. The only times you hear about it is by word of mouth or through the internet if you're searching in the topic of OS's, which I don't think would be that common with average users.
Alot of my friends have switched to mac's when we used to pay out macs for years, I guess it's more that they got sick of windows than got won over by osx. Most of them have dabbled in ubuntu and say they love it but never stay for more than a couple of months. That's a weird thing I see alot, people that are pro-ubuntu/linux but hardly ever use it.
kurt18947
December 21st, 2011, 02:51 PM
<snip>
Most of them have dabbled in ubuntu and say they love it but never stay for more than a couple of months. That's a weird thing I see alot, people that are pro-ubuntu/linux but hardly ever use it.
I wonder if those people love it until they come upon a problem which is not easily solved at which point the path of least resistance is Windows or MacOS. Ubuntu has gone a long way toward making Linux usable by mere mortals but there are still problems which are not solved by 3 clicks. New or less common WiFi and graphics cards can still pose quite a challenge, especially on portables.
Lars Noodén
December 21st, 2011, 02:57 PM
I wonder if those people love it until they come upon a problem which is not easily solved at which point the path of least resistance is Windows or MacOS. Ubuntu has gone a long way toward making Linux usable by mere mortals but there are still problems which are not solved by 3 clicks. New or less common WiFi and graphics cards can still pose quite a challenge, especially on portables.
That has to do with the installation of Ubuntu not the use of it. If people could get it pre-installed then that problem would not exist.
kurt18947
December 21st, 2011, 03:08 PM
That has to do with the installation of Ubuntu not the use of it. If people could get it pre-installed then that problem would not exist.
True
donkyhotay
December 21st, 2011, 04:30 PM
Hello mamamia88
Using Ubuntu can you authenticate to the network in your University?
Are you studying MS Office as a subject in its own right, e.g. taking word-processing classes based on Word or using MS Excel pivot tables in your statistics assignments?
If not, consider simply submitting PDF files for assignments or exporting LibreOffice documents to MS Office formats and submitting those. If you use a lot of mathematical formulas, I'd go with PDF submission or look at LaTeX, perhaps via Lyx the graphical editor.
I've been getting away with using free software for years (I'm a teacher), and no-one notices the difference. I just have Portable LibreOffice on a usb stick when I have to use windows.
cheers
I used linux all through college. Except for the classes that were windows specific I didn't need windows. Even the windows classes I got by with just using a VM. I even had teachers (from non-tech classes) tell me that I *had* to use MSword and to not use anything else like openoffice, if I did they wouldn't accept it even if I saved in .doc format. I just ignored them, saved in .doc format and they never noticed the difference.
forrestcupp
December 21st, 2011, 04:46 PM
if you already installed it, then how are they to revoke it?
By giving people a guilty conscience.
NadirPoint
December 21st, 2011, 05:14 PM
This what you have to consider about the whole proprietary "paid-for" software concept. It's not really buying software. It's kicking into a corporate revenue stream which basically resembles a perverted subscription service. Companies, not just individuals, everywhere are desperate to unshackle themselves from onerous licensing fees under this business model. They can either ante up for periodic upgrades or become hobbled with old crippled versions and eventually become victims of planned obsolescence. The ruthless enforcement tactics employed my Microsoft in particular, are what I find most offensive.
I carried a subscription to the Microsoft Action Pack as a part of my job requirements for several years awhile back. After changing jobs it became an unnecessary expense and I notified Microsoft to cancel my subscription, giving the reason as I stated, that it was no longer being used. About a week later I got a call from a Microsoft customer support representative about it. At first he went into hard sell mode, attempting to change my mind. When that didn't work he began reciting a legalese script warning about my liability and requirement to "destroy the software" per the licensing agreement. I responded that if he was that concerned about it they could send me a prepaid UPS label and I would gladly return every CD I had ever received from them and they could destroy it themselves. Needless to say, I have never purchased another Microsoft product since. Excellent customer relations tactic there.
mamamia88
December 21st, 2011, 05:35 PM
no surprises for me.... but since Libreoffice and read or write to word formats just fine....
Just tell your fellow students about Ubuntu and LibreOffice, and that they can use it for free!
BTW, what uni is this?
I took a finance class this semester where you embed graphs in a word document and submit the assignments via email to the proffessor. He uses office and I didn't want to risk 1/3 of my grade hoping it would open perfectly on his computer. That and office 2010 is way easier to find everything on the ribbon. I had never created a graph in office before and I was an expert in about 5 minutes. This btw is at a satellite school of Purdue
Lars Noodén
December 21st, 2011, 05:44 PM
... and submit the assignments via email to the proffessor...
It's always sad to read something like that especially at a university. Mail is not a good surrogate for a file system. With proper file sharing, like most universities had in the 1990's, each course was given a network folder. One or more of them was write-only and used as a drop box for one or more assignments. Too many things can and do go wrong with trying to use e-mail in place of file sharing (or as it is called now Network Attached Storage).
Evil-Ernie
December 21st, 2011, 06:16 PM
I don't believe people are ditching Windows at any great speed, still most desktop and laptop PCs has MS Windows pre-installed on them. I don't see a rush of people tearing Win7 off their PC to install an alternative operating system.
However in this case where hard cash has to be exchanged to keep using a MS product it does make you question the value for money they offer considering there are free, well developed OS like Ubuntu out there.
I have to use Win7 for my job, at home I have a mix of Linux systems. Personally I love Win7, much better than XP and Vista (which isn't that difficult I grant you!) however if I had to pay for it out of my own pocket I would have to think about it hard but probably save the cash and stick with Ubuntu.
boast
December 21st, 2011, 06:48 PM
Unless I know I can submit the assignment in PDF, I'm always worried about using libreoffice to submit something in .doc (end up sending it to my mac to open it in word to check)
This btw is at a satellite school of Purdue
boiler up!
forrestcupp
December 21st, 2011, 08:55 PM
This btw is at a satellite school of Purdue
I don't think I've ever noticed that you're from Indiana. I almost went to Purdue after high school, but I ended up going somewhere else.
newbie2
December 23rd, 2011, 09:54 AM
I just got an email in my university email stating that they are renogtiating their terms with Microsoft for their software. In the email they stated that if you had bought the software from the bookstore and if you graduate before a certain date you can continue to use it but if you remain a student after the current agreement ends that you have to uninstall the software and destroy the media......
Yep.... it's like maffia 'donating free drugs' at schools...once 'hooked', 'slaves for life'... :twisted:
1. Poisoning education: Today, most children whose education involves computers are being taught to use one company's product: Microsoft's. Microsoft spends large sums on lobbyists and marketing to corrupt educational departments. An education using the power of computers should be a means to freedom and empowerment, not an avenue for one corporation to instill its monopoly.
http://en.windows7sins.org/
Why Schools Should Exclusively Use Free Software
by Richard Stallman
http://www.gnu.org/education/edu-schools.html
ninjaaron
December 23rd, 2011, 10:53 AM
this. most microsoft software can be ignored. most people probably have no need for something like word, even if its light years better than oo
Excel can do a few things that OO Calc cannot, it's a fact. OO Writer is much more powerful than Word, however. It's just ugly as sin.
Primefalcon
December 23rd, 2011, 11:34 AM
The problem is simple... nothing can compete with windows unless its on computers being sold in shop... Which is something I believe Mr Shuttleworth is working to rectify!
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