[Infowarrior] - Windows Vista, Office 2007 Expelled From British Schools

[Richard Forno]

Windows Vista, Office 2007 Expelled From British Schools

A British educational report suggests the upgrade would increase costs and
create software compatibility problems while providing little benefit.

By Paul McDougall,  InformationWeek
Jan. 11, 2008
URL: 
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205602879

The agency that governs educational technology in the United Kingdom has
advised schools in the country to keep Microsoft's Windows Vista operating
system and its Office 2007 software out of the classroom and administrative
offices.

"Upgrading existing ICT systems to Microsoft Vista or Office 2007 is not
recommended," said the British Educational Communications and Technology
Agency, also known as Becta, in a report issued this week.

Becta officials said a study the group commissioned found that upgrading
school systems from Windows XP to Vista and Office 2007 would increase costs
and create software compatibility problems while providing little benefit.

"Our advice is to be sure there is a strong business case for upgrading to
these products as the costs are significant and the benefits remain
unclear," said Stephen Lucy, Becta's executive director of strategic
technologies, in a statement.

Becta also singled out for criticism Microsoft's failure to support the Open
Document Format -- which is recognized by the International Organization for
Standardization -- in Office 2007. Instead, the software uses a new
Microsoft format called Office Open XML.

"Microsoft should provide native support for the ODF file format
increasingly used in competitor products and those that are free to use,"
Becta said in its report.

The agency said U.K. schools can consider using Vista or Office 2007
software only when they are buying new batches of PCs. Even then, however,
they're advised to take a long looked at alternatives based on Linux and
other open source products, such as the OpenOffice.org desktop package.

"Schools and colleges should make pupils, teachers and parents aware of the
range of free-to-use products (such as office productivity suites) that are
available, and how to use them," Becta said.

The report's conclusions could end up costing Microsoft millions of dollars
in lost sales in the U.K. public-sector market.

Becta's advisory mirrors similar moves taken by public agencies in the
United States. Last year, the Department of Transportation placed a ban on
the use of Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Internet Explorer 7 because of
cost and compatibility concerns.

Copyright © 2007 CMP Media LLC