Ulimate Deal

College students can now enjoy peace of mind knowing they have "stolen" Microsoft's productivity software suite Office 2007 to complete schoolwork on their personal computers.

Microsoft Corporation is offering eligible students the opportunity to purchase Office Ultimate 2007 for $59.95 during its "Ultimate Steal" campaign. The software suite consists of Access, Accounting Express, Excel, InfoPath, Groove, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher and Word programs.

"That is a steal," Chuck Elliott, director of customer services, said. "I would recommend that any student purchase this software. It is a good deal at $59, and I plan on making sure my daughter orders it at that price. She has been using an older version of Office I bought for her a few years ago and it will be nice for her to be able to upgrade at such a small price."

The "Ultimate Steal" will be available until April 30, 2008 at www.theultimatesteal.com. to students who have a valid e-mail address at a United States educational institution ending in .edu and are actively enrolled.

Office Ultimate 2007 retails for $679 and is available through the Marshall University bookstore for $249. Because of the price of the software in the past, students have sometimes been forced to use alternative software packages to complete their schoolwork.

"My mom bought me Microsoft Works for $50 about a year ago because $150 for Office was something I couldn't afford at the time," Drew Woods, junior education major from Salt Rock, W.Va., said. "I was using Open Office for a while because it is a free download, but it didn't seem to do all of the things I had to do for some of my classes. Works is pretty similar to the Office programs, so I was able to get by with it."

When asked if he would be purchasing the software, Woods said he probably would, just so he had a copy of it to use if the situation called for it. Woods also said he would be willing to purchase more software if it was priced more reasonably for college students.

"I would buy Photoshop or upgrade to Windows Vista if the price was right," Woods said. "I just can't justify spending hundreds of dollars for software when I can find something that will do most of the same stuff for cheaper or nothing at all. As nice as it would be to have these programs, I know that I can't afford to spend that kind of money on them. I have other expenses I am more concerned with, like rent and gas for my car."