Microsoft CD gives partners wrong result

Microsoft sent out letters of apology to about 2,000 Net Results partners last week after it found dealers could not access Office 97 on Windows NT.

During the last month, Microsoft has been wooing dealers to join its Net Results scheme and giving away Office 97 on CD as a sweetener. But the software vendor got egg on its face after it discovered old versions of Windows NT were unable to read the CD without an additional service pack.

David Smith, channel marketing manager, said: ?We discovered it ourselves when we were doing a product demonstration internally. Anyone who is an NT user will need to get the Service Pack 2 and install it to be able to read the format of Office 97. There?s nothing wrong with Office 97 ? it?s just the way it was put on the CD.?

Resellers can contact Microsoft Connections on 0345 002000 or log on to Microsoft?s channel resources Web site at www. microsoft. com/channel_ resources/ to get the Service Pack 2 free of charge. Windows NT 4 users are unaffected.