Becta recommends that schools and colleges review the findings of the report before considering any large-scale investment or deployment.

The key recommendations from Becta's report are:

• Upgrading existing ICT systems to Microsoft Vista or Office 2007 is not recommended and mixed Windows-based operating environments should be avoided. However, Vista should be considered where new institution-wide ICT provision is being planned.
• No widespread deployment of Office 2007 should take place until schools and colleges are sure that they have in place mechanisms to deal with interoperability and potential digital divide issues set out in the report.
• To ensure widest compatibility of files between different applications, users of Office 2007 should not save in Microsoft's new Office format (OOXML).
• Due to limitations in Microsoft's implementation of the Open Document Format (ODF) international standard, users should in the short term continue to save files in the more widely adopted .doc, .xls and .ppt formats.
• Pupils, teachers and parents should also be made aware of the wide range of free-to-use products currently available and on how to use and access them.
• The ICT industry should be facilitating easier access to 'free-to-use' office productivity software.
  

Dr Stephen Lucey, Becta's Executive Director of Strategic Technologies, says:

"Our objective is to make sure schools and colleges get the best possible value for money. Our advice is to be sure there is a strong business case before upgrading to these products as the costs are significant and the benefits remain unclear."

"We also want to see easier access to competitor products enhancing innovation and choice."

Becta's report follows its interim report published in January 2007, which concluded the new features of Microsoft's Vista product added value but did not justify early deployment in the education sector. It also stated that Office 2007 contained no 'must have' features for schools and colleges and Microsoft should develop an underpinning business case to justify deployment in the education sector.

The comprehensive review of Microsoft Vista and Office 2007 was carried out by Becta in collaboration with Oakleigh Consulting Ltd.

For further information and to download the Microsoft Vista and Office 2007: full report visit the Becta publications area.

I need to extend my Windows network – what does Becta recommend I do if they do not recommend Vista?
In essence we recommend you exercise your downgrade rights and continue using Windows XP. Many suppliers to schools and colleges will supply you XP installed on systems and this operating system is supported until 2011. In addition, you should read the report as it carried out some practical upgrades of networks and there is some good advice about how to assess your upgrade and some technical pitfalls to avoid. 

Why is interoperability important?
We are keen to ensure there are no obstacles to encouraging learning in the home. One such obstacle is interoperability, i.e ensuring that the software available in the home can be used to access coursework or resources for learning. Our work indicates that improved interoperability between software applications and access to affordable office productivity software by pupils and their parents, will help promote home learning.

What is ODF?
The Open Document Format (ODF) is an international (ISO) standard for document formats allowing documents to be opened, read, edited and resaved in a common format by software applications from different providers.

How can I get hold of free-to-use office productivity software?
Many products are available online depending on what you require. A good place to start is at OSSWatch or at OpenDisc.

Can I get free to use software pre-installed?
We are currently lobbying industry to provide the choice of these products on the desktop for schools and colleges. At the moment there is no agreed set of providers, however if you ask for these products to be installed when placing orders it will help strengthen our case.

When will the final licensing report be published?
As the OFT are currently considering our complaint we have suspended publication of the final report. We do not currently have a timeline for the progression of the complaint but investigations of this nature can take many months.

Why has it taken Becta so long to refer Microsoft to the OFT?
Becta published its interim reports in January 2007 and in the intervening nine month period has given Microsoft the opportunity to address the findings and change its global license programmes. When it became apparent that the scale of change was insufficient to address our findings then we took the decision to refer.

Why has Becta agreed to an extension of the MoU with Microsoft, when its own report criticises MS licensing arrangements and says schools should wait for the outcome of the OFT complaint?
The extension of the MoU will allow schools to continue to benefit from the pricing discounts to which they are entitled. These discounts were introduced as a recognition of the significant overall volume of business which UK schools place with Microsoft. Our complaint to the OFT relates to other issues – the terms and conditions Microsoft imposes in relation to its School Agreement licensing model and in relation to interoperability impediments primarily around Office 2007.

What is Becta's advice to schools and local authorities regarding the purchase of IT software/licensing until this investigation is resolved?
Schools should first and foremost ensure they are legally licensed to use the software products and continue to have license coverage through the referral process. We recommend that if they are not already using the School Agreement licensing model they should not at this stage move to that licensing approach. If they are already a School Agreement subscriber and need to renew prior to a resolution of the referral process we would recommend that they ask for a formal estimate of their buyout costs (which should have reduced under the terms of the Becta MOU from a multiple of 3.2 times their annual subscription to a multiple of 1.75). Once in possession of the exit costs and the annual renewal costs they should consider if their needs are best served by remaining in the agreement or converting to perpetual licences vial the buyout. They should read Becta's interim report on Academic Licensing to ensure they understand the nature of Becta's concerns regarding School Agreement.

So what are the actual concerns regarding school agreement?
Becta's primary concern regarding Microsoft's School Agreement licensing model relate to the 'all or nothing' nature of the coverage that schools who want to move to subscription licensing must pay for. This has a number of unacceptable implications including driving up costs, and making it increasing difficult for suppliers of alternative products to get a foothold in the schools marketplace. For example:

• If a school is using some Apple computers that are not running any Microsoft software they must still pay Microsoft annual licence fees for those computers, even thought they are running software supplied by Microsoft's competitor.
• If a school wants Vista on some computers under its subscription agreement but decides to set up an internet access lab using computers that were purchased in (say) 2002 and that cannot run Vista, the school must still pay Microsoft annually as if it was actually running Vista on those older computers.
• If a school sets up a small network in its computer science department running an open source operating system such as Linux, to ensure that pupils have as wide a range of ICT skills as possible, it will have to pay Microsoft annual licence fees for each of the Linux PCs in the school.