To a point, I agree. This thread is becoming full of inane crap (you're not helping), with occassional blips of information posted.
However...have you been following the thread, or did you just drop on by to see how things were going?
If it is the former, you would realize that it is not White Shoes who's causing the trouble around here.
If it is the latter, what right do you have to barge in and ask somebody to leave?
Anyway, here's some news from a teenager:
CorelDraw 8 leads pack -- Corel hoists several titles into channel
By Paula Rooney
Ontario, Canada-Corel recently launched a litany of new products into the retail channel for the holiday season.
CorelDraw 8, which was recently unveiled at the company's annual conference, is slated to be available in stores by the first week of December. The product features a host of interactive Internet-publishing tools and innovative interface controls. They include an improved flat-look interface designed to remove screen clutter, as well as native support for WYSIWYG HTML exporting-simplifying publishing designs to the Web. The drawing software allows for vector
illustrations, page layout, image editing, and 3-D modeling and rendering.
CorelDraw is a key title in Corel's formidable consumer arsenal and suite strategy. Version 8 has a suggested retail price of $695; upgrades, a $249 SRP.
Corel has shipped three major releases in its Magic Print House series:Corel Print House Magic, Corel Gallery Magic 65,000 and Corel Gallery Magic 200,000.
Print House Magic will carry a $59.95 SRP. Corel Gallery Magic 200,000 and Corel Gallery Magic 65,000 have SRPs of $69.95 and $24.95, respectively.
Microsoft To Wipe Out Last Vestiges Of Concurrency
By Stuart Glascock
Seattle -- Microsoft Corp. is ending its concurrent licensing program for Office as of Dec. 1, company executives confirmed.
The main reason given for curtailing the program is that only about 5 percent of Office application users were taking advantage of it.
With concurrent usage licenses, for example, organizations with 1,000 users, split between a day shift and a night shift, may only have to buy 500 licenses as long as more than 500 users do not access the licenses at any one time.
Such licenses are complex to manage, and it is difficult to measure user compliance, said one Microsoft executive, asking:What happens when that 501st user comes on board?
"In the last few years, we've been simplifying our licensing programs at the adamant request of our channel partners to drive greater simplicity," said Peter Boit, Microsoft's general manager of product licensing. "In line with that simplicity and since sales of concurrent licensees are extremely low, we will be discontinuing concurrent licenses through Management Plus or Upgrade Advantage Plus."
Holders of concurrent use licenses may continue to use Microsoft Office products concurrently through the end of their current license agreement, Boit said.
"What we have been hearing is the simplest way to license products is on a per-desktop basis," Boit said.
The licensing change has far-reaching implications for resellers, said a large systems integrator and Microsoft Solution Provider in the Midwest, who asked not to be identified.
"Most of my customers have deployed Microsoft products in a concurrency type environment," he said. "Most of them understand that they need to have enough licenses for the people who are using it concurrently. I don't think my customers realize what this change means."
For one, his customers may not have planned for the potential added expense.
"As a reseller, I advocate for the customer," he said. "The concern I see is for the customer. It's a huge cost that they are [most companies] not expecting to incur. What's going to happen is a lot of
people are going to end up violating their licensing agreements. They may not have the money in their budget."
As an alternative, Corel Corp., Ottawa, is aggressively promoting its long-standing concurrent licensing program. Corel's WordPerfect office-productivity suite competes with the top-selling Microsoft Office.
"It [Microsoft's move] will have substantial advantage for Corel," said Mark Emond, manager of corporate sales programs, Corel. "We are going to see customer migration because of this."
Corel estimates 75 percent of its global customers have used concurrent licenses, and the majority of Corel's large accounts have realized cost and deployment benefits as a result, Emond added.
msb |
