Expressing Opinions

Do you want to see an advertisement when you are typing a document? Microsoft has a pilot program where it is offering free software to computer manufactures. The software has advertisement displayed while you are using the so called free program. Is this what you want or need when you are creating document?

CNET is reporting Microsoft Vice President Chris Capossela saying,

“People have liked the price,” he said with a laugh, adding that it has also not been perceived as that intrusive, something Microsoft had worried about.

Capossela said the main idea is to try and have a product that can be pitched by the Geek Squads of the world when people buy a new PC at retail. Tech benches, as these services are known generically, have become an important avenue for consumer software sales.

It sounds like Microsoft is trying to cozy up to the big manufactures and chain stores to take advantage of the unknowing or technically challenged consumer.

Anytime a program is going out online and placing advertisement on your computer while you work is intrusive. Is this one of those situations where people in their zeal for “cheap stuff” compromise their privacy and sell out to a corporation making billions at their expense? I think the online community should get their hands on the source code and make the program truly free. In other words the program should be hacked!

This just makes me more of a supporter of open source programs such as OpenOffice and Linux. Use the link to OpenOffice to learn more about a truly free program I use daily and I am completely satisfied with.

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I have used Adobe Photoshop for a long time. Many friends have shown interest, but in the end they do not want to spend the money or deal with the learning curve. Now it looks like Adobe is starting Web-based Photoshop Express, available for free with 2 gigabytes of storage at www.photoshop.com/express.

The MyPhotos page of Photoshop Express, a Web-based application for editing and sharing photos. (Image from Adobe)

Only time will tell how it stacks up with other services available on the web, but it is nice to see another choice available from a reputable company. You can read a full review of the application at Webware.

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One of the perks I have always enjoyed in going to school and teaching is free or heavily discounted software. In tech news today CNET is reporting about Microsoft’s DreamSpark program and giving away software to college students.

The software being offered for free includes:

• Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
• Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
• Expression Studio (including Web, Blend, Design and Media)
• SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
• Windows Server, Standard Edition

Students will also have access to Microsoft’s Xbox development tools, the XNA Game Studio 2.0, as well as a 12-month free membership to the XNA Creators Club.

While nearly all software manufactures discount software, Microsoft heavily discounts their products. In fact I have found they actually make their products more affordable than any other software producer. Is Microsoft just being kind to financially strapped students? Or it is more about hooking them now and hoping they stay to make purchasing decisions later in their careers?

Most people do not like to leave their comfort zone or make changes which may include a learning curve. It is easier to stay with what you are familiar with. Bill Gates and his team in Redmond know this, thus by offering their product to students now they automatically have a paying customer base later. It is a good marketing model where students win now and Microsoft and Bill Gates continue to earn billions later on.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a big Microsoft fan by any means. But I think other software manufactures could take a lesson from Bill Gates and offer bigger discounts and software giveaways to students. I see students financially struggling to pay for tuition and purchasing books for classes, only to come up short on getting the software they need to truly learn and succeed. This leaves students needing to spend more time in computer labs which translates into travel time, more demanding schedules, needing to make the decisions to do assignments or go to work, and less time to achieve academic excellence. If you have the software at home to work on assignments it gives the student an ability to manage their time and affords them an overall better learning and life experience.

I applaud Microsoft in their efforts. Now if Adobe, Apple and a few others would follow along with real discounts and giveaways.

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