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Software

Software

Microsoft offers 70% off Office for Mac for college students

By Jim DalrympleNovember 20, 2009, 6:16 am PT

Microsoft’s Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) is offering U.S. college and graduate students a considerable discount if they purchase Office for Mac Business Edition.

office1 Microsoft offers 70% off Office for Mac for college studentsAccording to the company’s Mactopia Web page, students can get a 70 percent discount on the suite of applications. The business edition includes Entourage, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Messenger.

“At the MacBU, we’re committed to helping students achieve their goals, and still have enough money to pay for books, tuition and other realities of college life,” the company said in a post on its Web site.

Microsoft on Tuesday offered all users special pricing on Office for Mac over the holidays.



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Discussion 6 comments so far

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  1. Posted by charli November 20, 2009, 9:37 am

    honestly why would a college or grad student need the pricer BUSINESS edition.

    and what is there about the student edition that is really that much better than the (even with the $20 off) cheaper iwork.

    if they are going to make this discount really work for them they need to answer such questions.

  2. Posted by Marshall Nam November 20, 2009, 10:51 am

    Hi Charli,

    We get feedback that college students need the best layout fidelity with Office for Windows (not just simple file format compatibility) for assignments, publication and group projects and features only available in Office for Mac. We’re also seeing more and more requests from education students and administrators for SharePoint and Exchange connectivity on the Mac, which is only available in our Business Edition package.

    Even the Home and Student version of Office will give students Solver, the Analysis Toolpak, a built-in citation manager, auto-save capabilities, and a host of other features that aren’t found in most competing applications.

    Hope that answers your questions.

    Marshall Nam
    MacBU Product Manager

  3. Posted by jr November 20, 2009, 11:38 am

    Answer questions? Are you kidding? These people have their priorities.

    Top of their list? Linedancing!

  4. Posted by Jim November 20, 2009, 4:37 pm

    The absolute only reason to have MS Office is exchange support so you can work with calendars, invites, etc… Word, Excel and PowerPoint are overly-complex and largely unnecessary beasts that serve only to bloat the cost of Entourage.

  5. Posted by Jim November 20, 2009, 4:39 pm

    I should add though that I use Windows at work and the Mac version of Office is FAR superior in usability. FAR superior! The Windows crew could take a lesson or 100 from the MS Mac BU.

  6. Posted by Torstein A. November 29, 2009, 3:07 pm

    Will is the next revision due for Office Mac? 2010? 2012?

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