Microsoft offering students and folk involved in education 10% off products

They've started doing so many of these promotions and special deals that I really think they're trying to offload stock to make way for the next generation of devices with Windows 8.1.

haswell is coming...

So is winter

It's Winter right now for me :P

YES!! winter is coming! I sense GoT MS hybrid promos!

It says the offer is good until December 2013.  So, either manufactures don't plan on releasing any new equipment until 2014 or this deal will be just as good when they do release Haswell equipped hardware.

it's that back to school. 

Apple has the same offer for students.

*semester

Yes please.

simester? Don't worry Rich. I still love ya.

My new favourite word. :D

You'd think if they were targeting the article at educators and students, they'd at least proof read the article.
 
I love the coverage, but the articles seem to have less and less proof reading lately.
 
 

Rich is from the UK, we don't use the word semester here. We say 'term' instead, so don't be too harsh.

Actually in the UK we do use the word semester. It's definitely used at the university I go to.

"Simester" would have been caught by any spell-checker. If you're uncertain about a word, there are ample resources to check. It's irresponsible as a writer to be dismissive, if this is the case.

Not available in UK? :-(

No, no its not.. Sorry fella.

It's okay, your education costs half as much and your salaries are double :P

You can get DreamSpark though...thats free....much cheaper =P

so i can get a surface over dreamspark? or ms office?

It is available in the UK for months now. You can get a 128gb pro for £719 instead of £799. I personally am waiting for the has well pro but will be using this discount when i order mine.

That's a good start. MS should go one step further and offer much bigger discount - up to 30%. That will ensure that products will end up in students hands. The bottom line is that MS is playing catch-up and have to be much more aggressive.

 they are giving the surface RT to education for 199.. that is a really good price now with 8.1 it seems to work much faster and has the ability to have some sort of domain join.. to allow local network access..
The problem is no one knows how to setup the netowrk join LOL
 

To educational institutions, yes. My girlfriend is a teacher and can't get one for $199. MS should offer more than 10% to *individuals* in education. Teachers and students are broke; 10% is nothing. IMO they should sell these things near cost to get the devices in peoples' hands.

COULD NOT AGREE MORE! MS PLEASE TAKE NOTE!

I bet Microsoft would be willing to sell at cost. The problem with this is that if they do that, their "partners" will get pissed off because they will be under cutting them. I don't see why Microsoft shouldn't, these "partners" are going to be with google and releasing android crap anyways. Microsoft will have to bleed money now, if they want to continue to make money in the future with Windows.

Correct 100%. Microsoft needs to step outside of their ego-centric box and drop Surface RT into every student's lap at a steep discount in an aggressive move not only to grab the students of today but also the business folk of tomorrow. Someone up top at Microsoft needs a courtesy reality-slap across the head, neck, and shoulders. Here's what to say: "Yes, you are ahead technology-wise but you are so far behind marketing-wise that it's like winking in the dark... You're trying to get the girl's attention and she can't even see you so it's a meaningless gesture. There's no Nokia to save you in this space... This isn't a bold move but rather a pathetic start!. 30% should be the starting point for this discount. After all, we're Microsoft for God's sake. We can afford to money-whip our competitors to gain market share. Hell, we can afford to LOSE money to do so."

I'm thinking perhaps a 99% discount. Imagine a Surface RT for £45. *drool*

10% just covers tax. Not a great deal to me. But it is nice to see the offers.

Its like companies you work for only give ten percent in the retail world. Its such a joke. I laughed at in an interview once when they were saying that was a perk. Lmao.

10% is better than nothing

It is and it isn't. For a company you work for its pathetic. For a company to just offer it to every education thing or what have you yea its nice.

Microsoft offers their employees much deeper discount's

That's great! But there not really a retailer.

I beg to differ, they have stores all over the place... So to a real extent, they sell a variety of products in brick and mortar locations all over the place. That's what I would call retail, though that may not be their primary distribution, but its still legit!

Whatever. I'm not arguing over them. Its more of what the other companies offer. And you know what im talking about.

Yes I understand and agree, 10% is standard discount for employees at retailers, and its a joke, should be like 20% or so, especially since their markups can be as much as 50%. I think it should be 50% of the markup, so if it is a 50% markup, you get 25%, and if there is only a 10% markup you get 5%... This way retailers still profit, but can offer better discounts on a wider variety if products. Just my 2¢

Exactly but now if only they actually offered something worth while. Most deals that I come across I don't want or need. For instance tvs, why are they still selling 1080p at 60hz? The minimum should be 1080p at 120 hz these days. But nope they'll keep saying here's ten percent off on a product that's marked way up. Oh well. Way of the world I suppose. But people aren't necessarily stupid either. In my opinion its why these people at retailers don't really care cause these companies don't really care about them either.

That is not true. I worked for them last year and it was 10% as well for employees although I got a free phone and surface rt. Lastly, they've been doing this education promotion for the last year, this is nothing new.

This 10% off deal for students has been on for a while, at least in Canada.

Not the same. This is more of a promo code which gets you a flat 10% off your total amount. Here in Canada, we have special deals on either Office or Windows 8 (software) or $100 off if you buy a Microsoft premium PC.
Not a bad deal and better than having nothing but us Canadian users keep getting shafted by Microsoft because of this. People down south get free charging plates and can usually pick one up for $20-$30 while we have to shell out $50 for the same thing (and there is no discount on that). Not only that, companies like Apple offer a flat 10% discount on anything you buy here - why can't Microsoft do the same?
Honestly, this regional crap is really frustrating. Surely, agreements and licensing can't be the only reason behind it because other companies have no problem getting their products and services here...it's just with Microsoft that I see us being treated as a market that has no real priority which is incredibly surprising since we share so much of our structural DNA with the States that it shouldn't be a problem for Microsoft to get their products/services here. Certainly not what I expect from a multi-billion dollar technology giant.

INTER-STING

This is the old Apple discount from the 90's. I remember getting my 12 inch iBook back then. Was sweetened by my former employer offering it at cost plus the 10% off. CompUSA in their prime back then. Anyhow I think it needs to be more aggressive as well. Also adoption of this ecosystem needs a faster pace. I love my 7.8 phone and my 8 pc's but not everyone feels that way that I meet. Make the IT guy at work love it, as well as mom and pop.

Waiting for Haswell on great PCs. The Vaio Pro 13 is great, but Microsoft sells the cheapest configuration with i5 and not i7, and no 802.11ac & HD Graphics 5000.

Unstoppablerej

I actually went to the Micrsoft store and bought myself a Dell XPS One 27 and they gave me 10% off and a free version of Office 365. You just have to ask :]

Good point. And that applies everywhere, and for any product you buy.. Just ask for more, and you'll be surprised.. Works best in 1st&2nd quarter when companies need sales the most.

US only again, I guess? Didn't you want to write that in the title from now on or something?

No I didn't ;)

10% is nice but if you want people to take action today might want to consider offering 20 - 25% 

Or if you go into a Microsoft store they give you 10% off anyways if you have a school ID

Way off topic-> When are they going to update WhatsApp?? Its way past the starting of June expected release.. I'm exhausted now..

Microsoft has nothing to do with that. It's not a Microsoft product.

Lol.. By that i meant the WhatsApp team itself..

Previous years had better, free Xbox! 10% is hardly equivalent

Semester

Finally got a reasonable priced Windows 8 tablet. Asus 400 me. Very very nice. I'm so stoked!! Ready foe halo now on the big screen. I love it way more than my nexus 7 already. Bit I will keep. My nexus because I can play games Windows will probably never see. Congratulate me people! Thanks I'm going to go play now.

For software at least... I still prefer DreamSpark... I love studying IT but not just for the free software.

I hate the fact we don't get much offers from Microsoft here in the UK. We are equally fans and supporters so its not right.

Microsoft is discriminating against non-students. That's racist

I believe you're looking for discriminating not racist.

Microsoft has fraudulent advertisement!!!! The 10% student discount IS ONLY FOR THE SURFACE. Not, I repeat, NOT for the accessories. Even though on their website AND the email that I received with my 10%off promo code insists that it is good for accessories as well, after trying to purchase a type cover for the surface it didn't accept my code. After chatting with a representative and wasting 20 mins of my life I got told it is"only applicable for the Surface it self not to its accessories.Meaning you can apply or use the discount code if you will be ordering a Surface or Surface 2. We actually coordinated with the Surface Support and that is what they have informed us"...
I love my WP8 and was looking forward to getting a surface for christmas but idk if I wanna throw my money at a lying aweful company like this!