Microsoft’s “Ultimate Steal”

Last week, Microsoft announced that it would be offering its Ultimate version of Office 2007 to any college or university students for 60 bucks (or $64 Canadian). In a nod to the reasons underlying their decision, they call their offer “The Ultimate Steal“.

Many students commenting over at digg.com suggested they had already perpetrated the ultimate steal and wouldn’t even be interested in paying the low price of $60 for a properly licenced version. Others wrote that Microsoft already had deals with their schools to provide low-price or free access to Office (of course, they typically pay hefty student fees for the privilege of getting “free” Microsoft software).

While admiring Microsoft’s magnanimity, it’s worth keeping in mind that an appeal decision released yesterday in the EU confirmed earlier judgments on Microsoft’s own “ultimate steal”, a result of Microsoft’s practice of squeezing out competitors by tying applications to Windows.