>>PS - You really do need to get an MSDN Universal.< g >
>>
>>PPS - You think that the change in managers is going to help your Red Sox?:-)

Steve,

>A person that I contract with contacted M$ who indicated to him that M$ is no longer going to do upgrade pricing unless paid for in advance and that upgrade privilege price must be paid for when purchasing your current software and it's good for 2 yrs. I do not know who that rep was. This original upgrade info was supplied by someone named Alec (877-340-7591) at CDW. I did not talk with Alec, but the person I contract with did. It was after the call to Alec that the call to M$ was made for verification. Naturally, this does not make sense. I did purchase 7.0 upgrade from CDW this AM and no mention from that rep regarding this upgrade biz. Now, I paid $287 but would question, why would I pay M$ $200 upfront for a 2 yr assurance that I can get "upgrade" pricing when 8.0 comes out? That's $487 I would have paid for current 7.0. Why? I might just as well put that $200 away and pay $500 for full 8.0 later on.

That's the first I've heard of anything like this, but I'll defer to Craig on it.

>Now George, I don't believe that $2300/year is worth the crud from M$. I have to keep "whatever the client has" and they rarely have the latest and greatest from M$. Even here at UT I was reading one of the home page articles indicating that java apps and programmers would exceed C++ sometime in 2002. That's a pretty significant shift indicating that the .NET strategy is suspect at best. There are no assurances that it will succeed but java is working and out there.

Steve it's currently $2,000 for a Universal. Second, it isn't just the development tools, it's everything: Operating Systens, Office, Back Office, SQL Server, etc., etc. My goodness, just buying Office Pro, VS.Net and VFP will cost nearly that much. Plus there are monthly updates. You get all the SPs. You get so much stuff that you won't know what to do with it all. And since it's a cost of doing business...

Don't get me wrong. I'm not shilling for MS here. I just think that any independent, it's something that provides them with an edge.

>How many folks here have Office XP? Did you have to log into M$ to get it activated? I read somewhere that when the XP OS comes out (10/25), you'll have to log into M$ in order to get it activated. But of course, the real reason is so that M$ can do a "profile" on your PC. And if that PC dies and you try to put XP on another machine, good luck in trying to convince M$ that you need it activated on another PC other than the original. I don't want to get into the piracy issue which is the heart of this matter, M$ does have a right to protect their copyrights, but I have PCs which have client data which are NOT allowed to be connected to the net. So I've got to take their stuff off, connect to activate, and then put their stuff back on? Ugh. I suspect a fallout over that policy (if it goes through when XP is released) so I'll definately be waiting before installing XP anywhere on any PC that I have.

There's a thread going on about this right now. Personally, to me, it's NBD. But, FWIW, from what I understand Office XP (and Windows XP) are "must haves".

>As for Mr Jim being gone, I liked him. I thought he always did well with less talent than was on other teams. Then again, it is well known that he and Duquette did not get along well. Then again, Duquette doesn't get along with many which is why Roger, Mo and others are gone despite their star status. I'll bet Pedro, who has requested a renegotiation of his contract before it expires, will be gone when it does expire. Duquette (IMO) does not understand the players or for that matter, the fans who are coughing up the bucks. I hope Pedro sticks around, but the current focus is going to be on the "new" Fenway for a while; players and fans be damned.
>
Sounds like the Bulls. My sympathies.
>
>PS But Kerigan did start out with a win against Seattle, who, if the Sox make it as a wildcard, will undoubtedly be facing.

I still hope that if we can't have Cubs/White Sox that maybe there's a chance for Cubs/Red Sox.

Lastly, (and back to business) if you want to discuss the MSDN Universal Pros and Cons, then send me an email and we'll talk about it (and other stuff too).

My regards to Cathy and the girls,