Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date: Spetember 2, 1998

UT System News Release

Microsoft Products to be Available to All in U.T. System

AUSTIN -- The University of Texas System announced an agreement Wednesday (September 2) under which Microsoft's most popular software products will be made available to all students, faculty, and staff throughout the 15-campus system.

A four-year, $6.3 million contract with Microsoft gives everyone in the university system access to the company's operating systems, desktop productivity tools, server software, messaging products, and other software.

The software will be available to users at no cost or at a nominal media cost. Future upgrades are also included in the contract.

"This highly cost-effective agreement will be of enormous benefit to students and others at all campuses in the U.T. System," said Chancellor William H. Cunningham. "We are pleased that it has been possible to take advantage of the U.T. System's economies of scale to make these software tools available throughout the system."

The U.T. System has approximately 146,000 students and 74,000 faculty and staff.

Desktop products covered by the contract include Microsoft Office Pro (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, and Access database), Frontpage, Visual Studio Pro, Backoffice Client Access License, and operating system upgrades for Windows 9x [correct] and Windows NT workstations.

"Microsoft is pleased to collaborate with the University of Texas System on an agreement that offers its students, faculty, and staff access to the technology tools they need to communicate, research, analyze, and organize information," said Jeff Raikes, Microsoft group vice president. "By ensuring access to the latest technology, the U.T. System is preparing its students for the increasingly technology-enabled work force and providing them with the skills for lifelong learning."

U.T. officials noted that the widespread availability of the most recent versions of Microsoft products will make it easier to exchange documents, share spreadsheets, create web pages, send messages, and do other collaborative work.

The agreement applies to both PC and Macintosh platforms and is not exclusive. The contract does not require the use of a Microsoft product, so faculty, staff, and students can continue to acquire software from other companies if that best meets their needs.

Effective immediately, departments can purchase Microsoft media and additional products from the current software reseller, Software Spectrum. Each campus will establish the distribution mechanism for students' home computers. At U.T. Austin, for example, students may obtain CD's of the software through the Campus Computer Store for $5 per CD beginning later this week.

A web site, http://www.utexas.edu/cc/sds/microsoft, has been established to answer questions about the new program.

More information is available from Dr. Mario Gonzalez, vice chancellor for telecommunications and information technology, at 512-499-4207