August 25th, 2008
Office Ultimate 2007 for $16,014,000,000,000
Seriously! A copy of Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 for just over $16 quadrillion Zimbabwe dollars. Bargain!
I know I sometimes bitch on about Microsoft as being as evil as an al-Qaeda suggestion box, but this time they’ve excelled themselves. I got a press-release through a couple of days ago about this offer for students, but only got round to it today after my week off.
Microsoft are once again throwing you a deal you shouldn’t refuse; every single Office 2007 application for $60 USD. The next university academic year begins for most people next month, and you’re going to need a copy of Office, realistically. You could get by with OpenOffice or Google Docs, but for once, it’d be nice to have an easy life.
Often is the case when I take my sister shopping, she wants to buy something and it’s £120 ($240), and I say, “pfft, you’re kidding right?” She then retorts with, “but it’s been reduced from £200!”, being around $400. The point is, it’s still £120 for a top, regardless of the discount given because there’s a single thread loose.
This is similar in principle, but thankfully not the case.
For an ordinary copy of Office Ultimate 2007, it’d cost you $679.95. With a discount of 91%, you as a poor, hungry student, subject to abject poverty, save $620. All you need is:
- a .edu email address of one of the institutions listed (see below);
- a spare $60 in your bank account;
- the web address: www.theultimatesteal.com
For $60, you get Access 2007, Excel 2007, InfoPath 2007, Groove 2007, OneNote 2007, Outlook 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Publisher 2007, Word 2007 and Office Accounting Express 2007 - which frankly, is more software than you actually need.
There are two catches though, inevitably with these sorts of offers, from the website:
Of course, if you don’t know whether your institution is listed, follow the link. The second part of the above terms make no sense to me, as my knowledge of the US education system is next-to-none.
For those in the UK, Canada, Italy and Mexico, this offer will be extended to you over the next few weeks or months. For other countries, it’ll be expanded over time so every student around the world can take part in this offer of warm, fuzzy proportions.
Hey, considering you could make a high markup by selling it on as brand new on eBay, $60 goes to make a nice investment.
Zack Whittaker, the youngest in the ZDNet network, is a British student at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where he studies BA (Hons) Criminology and Social Policy. His insight into the next-generation is unique and first-hand, sharing his knowledge of the here and now but more so what's next and how to get there.
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| 08/25/08
