New York City schools are getting free access to Office 365
Now's a pretty good time to be a New York City schoolkid. Microsoft has announced that all of the city's public school students (and their teachers) are getting free Office 365 ProPlus subscriptions -- if you qualify, you'll have five desktop and five mobile licenses as long as you're part of the local educational system. Ostensibly, the goal is to make sure that kids won't be "confined to the classroom" and can finish that big book report on any computer.
As you might gather, the company isn't giving away Office purely out of the kindness of its heart. You see, New York City recently approved the use of Chromebooks in schools. Combined with existing Google Drive use, Microsoft was faced with a wave of young New Yorkers that wouldn't have to rely on Windows or Office for classwork. The Redmond crew is betting that any revenue it gives up will be repaid when those students grow up and pay for Office to keep using what they already know.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren]
