[Opensource] BBC Article - Schools warned off Microsoft

[Jim Maunder]

At 10:01 PM 30/10/2007, you wrote:
>Nice find Cameron,
>
>Pity that Victoria has just inked a contract for $24 Million with MS.
>Given that XP already does what schools need and alternatives are
>often free, makes you wonder why there is an upgrade deal at all.
>
>Problems with Office 2007 are already becoming apparent as students
>begin to submit work in the new proprietary formats.
>...
>On 30/10/2007, at 8:58 PM, Cameron Bell wrote:
>
>>Schools warned off Microsoft
>>
>>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7063716.stm
>>
>>Cheers
>>Cameron
>>_______________________________________________
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In a couple of weeks we will have to decide what to put on the 100 or 
so new laptops/tablets that will come into the school next year. I am 
perfectly happy with XP and Office2003, but we are expected to go 
with Vista and Office2007. I looked up how licensing works, and it 
looks like we will have to set up a 'key management server' so that 
the machines can authenticate every 180 days, and that makes the 
'upgrade' a major PITA.

The Office2007 compatability problem is not too hard to fix - set all 
the Office2007 machines you have to save in 2003 format, and install 
the file format converter (fileformatconverter.exe) on the Office2003 
machines. It just pains me that after 20 years of using the 'File 
Edit Format Insert ... Help' toolbar that MS originally developed and 
everyone else pretty much adopted, they have now dropped it for those 
damned ribbons.

StarOffice looks more attractive every day. I'm sure we could change 
over easily enough, but our kids would miss 'Publisher' and a few of 
us would miss 'Access'. (Any volunteers to convert my code and macro 
driven laptop database?)

Well, that's the early morning rant over.

rgds
Jim



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Jim Maunder
Ruyton Girls School
Melbourne, Australia