U.K. schools advised to hold off on Vista, Office 2007

IDG News Service - Microsoft Corp. needs to make a stronger case for U.K. schools to upgrade to Windows Vista and Office 2007, as neither product contains essential new features, according to a report from a British educational advisory group.

The report, released Wednesday by the British Education Communications and Technology Association (BECTA), contains strongly worded concerns over Microsoft's new flagship products, both due for general release at the end of this month.

The report also struck at the core of what Microsoft has billed as its biggest improvements with the software, including security. The report said that the most stable version of Windows XP came almost three years after the product's initial release and advised that early deployments of Vista would be "high risk."

"It seems reasonable, therefore, not to deploy Vista until it has a demonstrably stable and secure track record," the report stated.

The BECTA report will be used by 25,000 schools throughout the U.K., representing about 2 million computers, most of which use Microsoft software. Neither Microsoft nor BECTA officials would say how much revenue the schools generate for Microsoft in annual licensing fees.

"We need to see a persuasive business case for the level of investment needed to deploy the products," said Tom McMullan, a consultant for BECTA. "What we are saying in the short term is that the case has not been made."

A final report will be released in January 2008, after further talks with Microsoft and competing vendors, McMullan said.

The report digs deeply into Vista and Office 2007's features. It found 27% of Vista's added features were available without upgrading from XP, such as the new Internet Explorer 7 browser and Windows Media Player, both of which can be downloaded for free for Windows XP.

Of 176 new features identified in Office 2007, none were "must-have" for education institutions, and most are aimed at businesses, the study said.

The report comes as thousands of educators gather in London this week for the British Education and Training Technology conference.

Steve Beswick, Microsoft's director of education in the U.K., said Vista and Office are receiving positive feedback from teachers and students at the show.

As for the report, "clearly, we would like to think it could have been better," Beswick said. "We feel very confident that once customers see the technology and evaluate it correctly, upgrades will happen."

Over the long term, McMullan said, schools will inevitably migrate to Vista and Office 2007. In the meantime, the report called for improvements, particularly in the area of file