Confusing the masses

Not content with confusing us with five different versions of Vista, Microsoft throw seven different versions of Office into the mix.

In answering a question in our sister site, IT Queries, I was looking at the Microsoft Office website and the list of different versions of MS Office 2007.

What a mess!

On top of having the seven different types, there's also the added fun of OEM and boxed product licenses.

I won't even mention the Value Licensing scheme for larger organisations which is so complex even those who follow Microsoft for a living find themselves falling into a coma when trying to explain it.

Microsoft really need to look closely at this complexity. It too hard for professionals, let alone consumers and small businesses.

Software companies have to get it through their heads that all the messages they put out about software piracy are pointless if no-one can understand the rules.