Office 2007 for a homework center

P

pkid

Expert Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
1,785
Reaction score
92
Location
Durban North
Our church has started a homework center where kids can pay a nominally fee and then do their homework in the afternoons for a few hours while being supervised. I have read the Office 2007 home and student edition license and it seems to only be valid for households. Is there another version we can buy and use on the three computers that were donated to us? I don't feel like paying R2000 a machine to run office.

Openoffice is not an option unfortunately :(
 
I would normally choose Openoffice in a heartbeat but some of the teachers who go to our church say it is a no go. With the new Office 2007 if the kids learn that at school and then have to learn Openoffice at the center apparently it is a problem? So the interfaces being different is the big problem. I am so tired of software licensing BS.
 
chiskop said:
:confused:

Compatibility with what? OO can run on more machines/OSes than Office 2007 and can read/write far more formats.

Okay - I get you pkid.
Click to expand...

No, I meant what he did. The syllabus at school teaches MS Office. I use OpenOffice, so I know that it supports many more formats.
 
Is your church registered as non-profit? If so then you can get Office at a significantly reduced price. However, I don't think this license would be applicable in your case as you appear to be charging for the service?
 
Whoever designed the """NEW""" stupid M$ office menu thing need to be shot - And shot again. The schools and universities get the new version for free and now everyone down the line are inadvertently forced to upgrade to it as well.
 
unfortunately you are stuck. Why can't some/one of the students buy the student version in their own name? As a student they are allowed to buy a copy of the student office version and install it on any three computers. Which three computers they install it on is their own business.
 
Garyvdh said:
unfortunately you are stuck. Why can't some/one of the students buy the student version in their own name? As a student they are allowed to buy a copy of the student office version and install it on any three computers. Which three computers they install it on is their own business.
Click to expand...

Problem is that the EULA specifically states that it must be installed in a household; AND that it must be used for non-commercial reasons.
 
Conradl said:
Problem is that the EULA specifically states that it must be installed in a household; AND that it must be used for non-commercial reasons.
Click to expand...

hmmm, well I would not have a problem rationalising it on that basis... it is the student who is using it for his/her own benefit, the fact that they are paying for that after care has nothing to do with the software, it is his software to advance his own learning... and the church is the "house of God" :D The commercial arrangement is only for the after-school care (I would remove any reference to the computers from the contractual agreement).

But, if you feel compelled to do this the "licensed" way, then you will unfortunately have to buy the fully licensed version. Have you tried calling Microsoft directly? or going to their offices?
 
I can understand that because of Office 2007 in schools, you would like students to also use this. I would still give them OOo to work with, and also include it on a CD to take home. It doesn't conflict with MS Office in any way when installed, and works better at salvaging "corrupt" MS files.
 
pkid said:
I would normally choose Openoffice in a heartbeat but some of the teachers who go to our church say it is a no go. With the new Office 2007 if the kids learn that at school and then have to learn Openoffice at the center apparently it is a problem? So the interfaces being different is the big problem. I am so tired of software licensing BS.
Click to expand...

Then the teachers are teaching wrong. They shouldn't be teaching MS Office. They should be teaching Word Processing skills.

Take it up with them. Try and convince them that OO.org is a better choice.
 
Last edited:
1) Approach Microsoft for a donation.
2) Approach MS regarding licences for NFP orgs.

Re infantile comments about bulls**t MS licensing policies: grow up, people. MS gives away more software annually than the total revenues of most other software vendors. MS is not a charity (if it was it would have disppeared 20 years ago, and you'd be running DR-DOS).
 
unfortunately, there's no real alternative for your situation. You can apply for a non-profit organization discountm, but then you'll need to reword your application a bit, and don't state that you charge for the use of OFfice. You may, however, still charge for after-school care.

The main problem is the fact that schools get the MS licenses for free, and (often stubborn) teachers don't want to teach people anything else, cause they often believe that's the only solution available. It's almost trying to argue with an American that MAC isn't the only computer around.

I agree, they should have tought the kids word processing, not Office menu's, BUT, a lot of companies also only accept Office skills, and not word processing skills. So, it's an evil circle, which hasn't really changed much.
 
SoftDux said:
a lot of companies also only accept Office skills, and not word processing skills. So, it's an evil circle, which hasn't really changed much.
Click to expand...

Companies still look for Office skills? I've never put Word or Excel on my CV. I would have thought that it's just assumed that you have word processing and spreadsheet skills in today's business world.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X