Comments on: Why Microsoft Office is in Trouble; Debunking Microsoft Goodwill http://techrights.org/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/ Free Software Sentry – watching and reporting maneuvers of those threatened by software freedom Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:00:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Roy Schestowitz http://techrights.org/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/comment-page-1/#comment-10767 Roy Schestowitz Sun, 25 May 2008 13:49:43 +0000 http://boycottnovell.com/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/#comment-10767 Prescription drug gradually going generic. This has already happened to CMS software. Prescription drug gradually going generic. This has already happened to CMS software.

]]> By: tom http://techrights.org/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/comment-page-1/#comment-10758 tom Sun, 25 May 2008 12:16:53 +0000 http://boycottnovell.com/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/#comment-10758 yes, this is also the case in Poland - there are some special programmes for universities (MSDN Academic Aliance) - students can get some MS software free of charge (what is interesting, MS Office is excluded form the programme, at least in Poland). Of course, they can use it only for non-commercial purposes. It is also worth mentioning that the price of MS Office 2007 Home has been recently decreased in Poland. It's now 199 PLN (about $100), and before September 2007 the price was at least 380 PLN. So now It's half the original price. Of course, this is nothing bad that they lowered the price, but it was the first remarkable sign that they are slowly begining to loose the Office monopoly in the consumer market. One could argue that it was all about fighting "piracy" (according to some recent studies, about half of the proprietary software used in Poland is used with out a license), but on the other hand MS could make such a move long time ago - it just wasn't a problem for them as long as people used their software (and their proprietary technologies). Recently, more and more people are aware of alternatives and everybody knows what consequences it can have. yes, this is also the case in Poland – there are some special programmes for universities (MSDN Academic Aliance) – students can get some MS software free of charge (what is interesting, MS Office is excluded form the programme, at least in Poland). Of course, they can use it only for non-commercial purposes.

It is also worth mentioning that the price of MS Office 2007 Home has been recently decreased in Poland. It’s now 199 PLN (about $100), and before September 2007 the price was at least 380 PLN. So now It’s half the original price.
Of course, this is nothing bad that they lowered the price, but it was the first remarkable sign that they are slowly begining to loose the Office monopoly in the consumer market. One could argue that it was all about fighting “piracy” (according to some recent studies, about half of the proprietary software used in Poland is used with out a license), but on the other hand MS could make such a move long time ago – it just wasn’t a problem for them as long as people used their software (and their proprietary technologies). Recently, more and more people are aware of alternatives and everybody knows what consequences it can have.

]]> By: Roy Schestowitz http://techrights.org/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/comment-page-1/#comment-10646 Roy Schestowitz Sat, 24 May 2008 14:30:24 +0000 http://boycottnovell.com/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/#comment-10646 I could add the fact that they offer Office 2007 almost for free to students in some countries (a discount of about 80%). It's about getting people locked in (backward compatibility), among other things like dependency on interfaces and habits. it's inertia that makes Office a 'standard' (de facto). I could add the fact that they offer Office 2007 almost for free to students in some countries (a discount of about 80%). It’s about getting people locked in (backward compatibility), among other things like dependency on interfaces and habits. it’s inertia that makes Office a ‘standard’ (de facto).

]]> By: tom http://techrights.org/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/comment-page-1/#comment-10645 tom Sat, 24 May 2008 14:25:48 +0000 http://boycottnovell.com/2008/05/23/debunking-microsoft-odf-policy/#comment-10645 This is very interesting in the context of MS Office sales: http://www.microsoft.com/poland/office/konkurs/ It's in Polish, but it's quite self-explanatory: buy MS Office 2007 Home and you can win a car! There was also some similar contest connected to X-Box, but I don't know a link to it. What's more interesting, Microsoft recently began to intensively advertise itself and it's consumer products (MSO and X-Box) in daily press and in radio - so far (at least in Poland) you could find MS ads only in computer magazines (and of course in the Internet), and they were targetting rather professional users. Looks like MS is desperately looking for sources of income. This is very interesting in the context of MS Office sales:
http://www.microsoft.com/poland/office/konkurs/
It’s in Polish, but it’s quite self-explanatory: buy MS Office 2007 Home and you can win a car! There was also some similar contest connected to X-Box, but I don’t know a link to it.

What’s more interesting, Microsoft recently began to intensively advertise itself and it’s consumer products (MSO and X-Box) in daily press and in radio – so far (at least in Poland) you could find MS ads only in computer magazines (and of course in the Internet), and they were targetting rather professional users.

Looks like MS is desperately looking for sources of income.

]]>