Retail chain CompUSA will sell Microsoft Windows Vista and Office 2007 Nov. 30 alongside resellers and OEM partners and ahead of the general public release, planned for late January, the software maker announced Nov. 13.
Windows Vista Business and Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 will be available at select CompuUSA stores as part of Microsoft Open Value or Microsoft Open Business licensing options—five copies or more at a 10 percent discount or more—part of an effort to make volume buying more obtainable for SMB (small and midsize business) and Home Office customers, more than 50 percent of whom turn to retail outlets for software, said Cynthia Bates, Microsoft"s general manager of the small-business division for the U.S. Small and Mid-market Solutions & Partners Group.
Customers will walk out of CompUSA stores with a Microsoft Small Business Value Program Kit explaining the value of Microsoft"s SMB portfolio and Small Business Specialist set of VARs offering integration and services as well as a proof of purchase. A CompUSA sales associate will then work with the customer to explain how the software can be downloaded with activation of the license.