As part of Microsoft Corp.'s commitment to education, the company is introducing a promotion inviting students who are actively enrolled at educational institutions and have a valid e-mail address from the institution to purchase Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 at a student price of $59.95 (U.S.). "The Ultimate Steal" promotion will run in Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States starting today and in France, Italy and Spain starting Sept. 20, 2007. The promotion will end April 30, 2008.

Office Ultimate 2007 is the premium Office suite and provides students with a comprehensive set of tools that can help them create high-quality documents, gather and consolidate lecture notes and other information, stay organized, find what they are looking for quickly, and easily collaborate with colleagues and professors across geographical boundaries.

"We're listening to students who have told us they need Microsoft Office for their studies and want more flexible ways to get the latest version," said Alan Yates, general manager of Worldwide Education at Microsoft. "We're committed to providing accessible and affordable technology to students so they can meet their academic goals. The Ultimate Steal is the latest in a long history of providing compelling academic offers for students."

Earlier this year, the promotion was offered to students in Australia as a pilot program, resulting in great experiences and overwhelmingly positive feedback from students. "Our students had been asking for more flexible methods to acquire Microsoft software, so we were very happy to see this Web-based promotion," said Catherine Overton, manager, IT Contracts, Monash University. "Microsoft Office is also a key set of applications used by our students in their academic studies, so they were pleased to be able to acquire the newest version at such a low price."

Office Ultimate 2007 includes the entire Microsoft Office toolset that students are accustomed to working with and more, including Microsoft Office Word 2007, Microsoft Office Excel 2007, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager, Microsoft Office Access 2007, Microsoft Office Publisher 2007, Office OneNote 2007, Office Groove 2007 and Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007.

Students can find program details and see if they're eligible at www.theultimatesteal.com.