[ossig] Drop MS Office from school PCs: Shanghai gov't

[Nan Phin <nplee@tm.net.my>]

By Staff, CNETAsia
Tuesday, August 26 2003 8:00 AM

A China-made office suite will replace Microsoft Office in Shanghai schools following a raid by antipiracy officials and a demand to
pay license fees.

China-made software suite Kingsoft WPS Office 2003 will replace Microsoft Office applications in Shanghai public schools from Sept.
1, according to Shanghai's education officials.

The ruling come just after a similar announcement by officials stating that all civil service PCs will gradually adopt WPS Office.

The Shanghai Education Research Center signed a contract with Chinese software company Kingsoft a week ago to buy the company's WPS
Office 2003 software. The center acquires software for public schools in the city, and has notified each school of the change,
reported China news Web site, china.org.cn.

Most schools have removed Microsoft Office programs to make way for the Chinese-developed software. Also, a new computer textbook
containing little content about Microsoft Office will be used from next month onwards. The domestic-made office suite is cheaper, at
half the price of Office XP.

The Beijing-based company has also scheduled special activities for this project, such as launching online examinations through the
schools' local area network. The company also plans to market its WPSOffice 2003 on the last day of this month, at the retail price
of US$156, compared with Microsoft office XP's US$464.52.

The move to snub Microsoft comes after the software giant asked the Shanghai Education Commission to buy licenses for the office
suite on every school computer. Several schools in the city were earlier raided for using pirated versions of the software, said the
report.

Kingsoft's marketing manager of WPS business unit, Xia Ji, said that the company will market its software at highly discounted prices
as schools are often limited in funds, according to the report.

WPS, while being promoted by the government, is unlikely to fully replace the use of Microsoft Office in the civil service in the
near future, said Dorothy Yang, research director for software and services at research firm IDC China, in a report. Foreign vendors
are also not likely to be fully excluded from government contracts.

Analysts and other sources have said that transition to WPS and other local software will be gradual as too many systems in the
Chinese government now depend on Microsoft Windows and Office.
--

best wishes.
/nan phin

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.



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