Microsoft offers schools in Mass. free software
The software package, according to the Seattle-based Microsoft, is worth at least $30 million, and is the largest software donation to public education in the Bay State. It will be available to public universities as well as public and private high schools.
Corporate donations to school systems are not unusual, as companies often try to gain name recognition by placing their brands with younger consumers. State and school officials, though cognizant of companies' attempts to use students for branding, said the donation is a boon for financially strapped schools trying to update their technology.
Microsoft's software includes normal applications, such as word processing and spreadsheets, as well as more advanced programs.
About 42,000 of the public high schools' computers, a little fewer than half, will be able to run the software immediately. But the other 50,000 are too old to handle such new programs and will be weeded out of the system anyway, said Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll .
``It's the latest in technology that Microsoft is offering to us. It gives our kids the ability to work with cutting-edge applications," Driscoll said.
Ted MacClean, general manager of Microsoft New England, said Microsoft is looking to expand its name at schools in Massachusetts, but is not trying to monopolize the market. Rather, he said, the company sees the donation as a way to get more young people involved in technology.
``Our core focus is getting technology into the hands of students at low or no cost . . . It's about ensuring that kids have access to using the software," MacClean said.
Microsoft said that 50 high schools and all 33 public universities and community colleges will be ready to use the software by the beginning of next year.
The installation should be completed in all high schools by the end of the next school year, the company said.
