PCA raps Microsoft over educational discounts

The Personal Computer Association is to launch a fierce campaign against Microsoft over pricing of the Office suite of software.

Keith Warburton, co-ordinator of the 60-strong association, whose members include AMD, IBM, Panther, and Centerprise, said the software giant was set to introduce a scheme which would undercut resellers.

'Microsoft will introduce Software for Students soon, which means educational establishments from kindergartens upwards can buy Office for u70 to u90,' said Warburton.

The scheme will apply to any type of educational establishment and the pricing contrasts with an RRP of u420 plus VAT.

'If I were a systems integrator selling to educational establishments, I'd be worried,' said Warburton. 'Typically schools and the like will buy machines from people such as Gateway because they buy on price.'

He said that meant that off-the-page companies could undercut systems integrators by claiming they were selling Office to educational establishments.

A Microsoft representative said she was unaware of a fresh educational push. Although MS introduced Open Licence 25 for schools this time last year, it does not apply to kindergartens or unaccredited educational establishments.