Microsoft providing free Windows 7 for Russian schools

Microsoft announced the general availability of Windows 7 operating system in schools in Russia. As noted by Microsoft, while continuing to fulfill their commitments to support the Russian education, she has decided to provide the Russian schools operating system, Windows 7 and free educational materials. During April 2010, all 54 thousand schools in Russia will receive free installation disks with this operating system. In this case, each of the schools will be able to install Windows 7, not only on educational computers in classrooms, but also on the home computers of teachers.

In the period from 2007 to 2010. Microsoft has fully provided all Russian schools with software, including relevant updates, under the "first aid". Nevertheless, it was decided to further free delivery of Windows 7 on DVD, which will make the process of installing the operating system, the simplest, pupils - trained on a modern software platform, and teachers - free to use this platform to work and home.

Installation CD will include a localized version of Windows 7, available, in particular, in the Tatar language in the new academic year 2010-2011. Together with the distribution of Windows 7 all schools in Russia will also receive a DVD with teaching materials for pupils, teachers and school administrators, free software and educational trajectory - a set of interactive training courses on Microsoft Windows 7, Office 2007, Internet services and other technologies in education process. Training materials are created and criticized Russian teachers - active participants in community www.it-n.ru and www.e-teaching.ru, with more than 80 000 users.

Term of licenses for the operating system is valid until the end of 2010, ie before the expiry of the Agreement on a package of Microsoft software on the computers of all educational institutions of Russia, as well as on home computers of teachers, which Microsoft and the Federal Agency on Education concluded in December 2007 .

Operating system Windows 7 will be provided to schools under the project "Providing support for the standard license (base) software package for use in educational establishments of the Russian Federation in 2007 - 2010" which in turn is part of the national project "Education".