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i have access to 2 msdnaa accounts
http://msdn04.e-academy.com/elms/Storefront/Storefront.aspx?campus=ieee_cs_r9&np1=112

http://msdn70.e-academy.com/elms/Storefront/Storefront.aspx?campus=santbabasing_cs&np1=112

win 7 was available for a month on the 1st link, but was then withdrawn

it never even appeared on the 2nd one

and yes, i have tried logging in

check this

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&p=22981341
the 4th post on the page discusses why it was removed
also try searching for
windows 7 withdrawn from msdnaa
in google...

luckily i got it before it was removed

i have access to 2 msdnaa accounts
http://msdn04.e-academy.com/elms/Storefront/Storefront.aspx?campus=ieee_cs_r9&np1=112

http://msdn70.e-academy.com/elms/Storefront/Storefront.aspx?campus=santbabasing_cs&np1=112

win 7 was available for a month on the 1st link, but was then withdrawn

it never even appeared on the 2nd one

and yes, i have tried logging in

check this

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=0&p=22981341
the 4th post on the page discusses why it was removed
also try searching for
windows 7 withdrawn from msdnaa
in google...

luckily i got it before it was removed

upon graduation, I am supposed to remove the software from my computer

I once posted something related to msdnaa being free to students and somebody else replied with that tidbit of information. That's a rumor someone started, but it isn't actually true.

Here's a text from my school's msdnaa website (I got there without logging on, so everyone should be able to access it): "When a student purchases a product under this program, the product becomes the property of the student. The product will not terminate or expire simply by virtue of the termination, suspension, or other interruption of the student's status as an enrolled student."

Now the license does have some annoying restrictions. You can't use the software for commercial purposes, for example.

It looks like many quantitative applications are currently not going to work on Vista, at least for now. Major statistical analysis, data mining and Geographic Information Systems tools that don't run on Vista include:

SPSS, SAS, MATLAB and SAP and ESRI ArcGIS

Eh, this is no big deal, right? I mean, who really wants to know about facts and numbers? Especially when you are using a *computer*.

This may seem like an inane question but why don't I see more of a push to get Linux into the realm of academia?

I know that Ubuntu has made strides to incorporate themselves into learning environments but where is the effort to alert students (primarily other than computer science majors) to the benefits of Linux?

When I was a freshman at the University of Minnesota, a friend handed me a CD distribution of Debian that would change my life. I knew of the Linux labs in the University but only now did they interest me. I'm now getting my masters at George Mason University and I don't believe there's a single Linux machine on campus. In fact, the whole Computer Science department has only two Sun servers to offer me an account on! Everything else is Microsoft!

Now you may lay claim that every computer science major these days is running Linux anyway. But how about the other areas of study? I used to take music theory and people would rant and rave about their Macs or one of various composing suites in Windows. I tried explaining that Linux has (certainly more affordable) solutions to offer in this department too but no one would even listen to me. It's not like they were mixing platinum selling records, they were just looking for software to write sheet music with.

I think that both Apple and Microsoft realize that the toys people have in college become the toys they demand in real life. So there are all these efforts to garner the student's interest hoping that they will use them in their careers.

They make it free (which Linux already is), they make it easy and they make it available.

So how about it? Why isn't the Linux community minting install discs and distributing literature on campuses? Why isn't Linux tailoring cheap solutions to K-12 schools that don't have the money for Windows anyway? Why do we risk letting someone leave academia without ever experiencing the real fruits of it?

If you are doing this (and I just don't know about it), what steps have you taken?

Vista and IE7 betas seem to be only available for "real" developers and haven't been published to the MDSNAA (Academic Alliance) distribution channels... yet.

Microsoft has been buying off students as well as the universities and departments for a while now. Check out the MSDNAA where Microsoft provides free development tools to certain educational institutions. At my university any student who takes at least one CS course is eligible. They may download ANY Microsoft operating system as well as any number of Microsoft development tools.

Also, within the past year Microsoft began selling their current desktop operating system and office suites to all students at significantly reduced prices - at $70 and below. Both of these methods of obtaining software will greatly increase the proliferation of Microsoft in academia.

All of this is discounting the huge amount of "pirated" software, particularly new versions of Microsoft operating systems and office suites, that are installed on students computers in college. A few students who know the tricks of the trade ("pirating") distribute copies to a huge amount of people on campus, especially since students hardly want to pay for music, let alone software.