Back to school for Office XP
C|Net | at | by Mike
A deal to offer students a cheaper version of Microsoft's Office XP software may be part of a larger plan for the software maker: Increasing sales of the productivity suite to consumers by slashing prices. Microsoft's aggressive pricing of the academic version of Office XP has made the software one of the biggest sellers with students and teachers--and it's becoming increasingly popular among nonstudents, who are technically ineligible for the discount. In some cases, the software is priced $330 less than the same nonacademic version of Office XP.
In October, Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft started what was announced as a limited-time discount offer on Office XP Standard for Teachers and Students: The company reduced the price of the software to $149 from $199. The deal continues 10 months later, and Microsoft has not indicated when or if the promotion will end.