Microsoft Users Must Read

Found this on 'Crave'. $200 for 10 copies (ea) of every(?) application and edition MS has sold since 2003.
...Not an endorsement of MS.

This is a detailed review of offer by a CNET person.
/totw/technet2.asp"]http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/totw/technet2.asp[/URL]

Cool...thanks for that post.

$200 is a lot different from free. I don't think they will be overwhelmed. I looked at the list of software and would have a use for a handful of things, but most of it would be wasted shelf space for me.

I wonder if MSFT is exploring whether a digital subscriptions sold directly to consumers represents a more effective business model than selling through conventional retail channels--even if their margin per unit sold to consumer is smaller. Where they really make their money is through selling licenses to corporations and institutions as well as OEM sales for new PCs--but they can only do so because they have achieved a critical mass with respect to market dominance. It may be that making it much easier for individual consumers to access all of their latest products will allow them to maintain a buffer against Google and others incursion into their marketshare for programs that represent their cash cows.

Random thought: I realize that I sort of opened the door to these sorts of posts when I posted in the "Higher Education" forum about the Office 2010 Professional Academic for $80 direct from MSFT, even though it was a little different from the intended purpose of the forum (although still of interest to frequenters of that forum, I think). So I'm wondering if it might be prudent for the forum moderators to create a dedicated subforum for tech talk that is not directly related to the eDGe for topics like this that are of interest to the eDGe community but not directly related to the device itself.

Maybe create a new forum topic "Community" with two subforums "General Tech Talk" and "Lounge" (catchall for other topics that people want to discuss, but don't directly relate to the eDGe or any of the other topics).

I appreciate that enTourage probably doesn't want to have the volume of posts deviate too far from the eDGe, but I think a few off-topic (or topics that are only tangentially related, but still of general interest) are inevitable and it would seem to make sense for everyone (enTourage and this forum community) to have a place to discuss them outside of the "General Discussion" forum.

Just my $0.02, FWIW.

I agree with Walt. It is a good idea.

I bought this same subscription with a 30% of coupon a month or so ago on the advice of Paul Thourote ( not sure of the spelling ) on Windows Weekly a pod cast with Paul and Leo Laporte. It is important to note that these copies are for "evaluation" only and not to be used in a "production" setting. I intend to evaluate this software on my personal computers ( I will not share!, that would be wrong!) for several years. And also note that the subscription is for one year.....though you can renew.....but the software is full retail versions and nonexpiring. This was a great way for me to get Window 7 Ultimate ( I already had Home Premium ) and Office 2010 Pro for a fraction of the retail cost....as well as much of windows older software. Interesting that Win 3.11 is included but no 95, 98, or ME. Though you get all flavors of XP and Vista and 7.

Also a lot of tech manuals and access to some training included.

All in All a great deal.

Originally Posted by walt526

Random thought: I realize that I sort of opened the door to these sorts of posts when I posted in the "Higher Education" forum about the Office 2010 Professional Academic for $80 direct from MSFT, even though it was a little different from the intended purpose of the forum (although still of interest to frequenters of that forum, I think). So I'm wondering if it might be prudent for the forum moderators to create a dedicated subforum for tech talk that is not directly related to the eDGe for topics like this that are of interest to the eDGe community but not directly related to the device itself.

Maybe create a new forum topic "Community" with two subforums "General Tech Talk" and "Lounge" (catchall for other topics that people want to discuss, but don't directly relate to the eDGe or any of the other topics).

I appreciate that enTourage probably doesn't want to have the volume of posts deviate too far from the eDGe, but I think a few off-topic (or topics that are only tangentially related, but still of general interest) are inevitable and it would seem to make sense for everyone (enTourage and this forum community) to have a place to discuss them outside of the "General Discussion" forum.

Just my $0.02, FWIW.

Completely agree with you. Did 'soul search' and 'forum search' before posting.

The comments of Borisb and Kenjennings are on point.