This is a subject I often had discussions about with my network manager and head-teacher. It would appear to me anyway that it would be far better to teach students "word processing" rather than "word", since these are not synonymous. It would be better to teach students the fundamentals of programming instead of Visual C++ by a certain proprietary software house. To give students access to "base" technology and then have them fitted for adapting to new technologies building on that base and foundation would be far better than letting them think that Microsoft applications *are* office products and programming tools and IT in general. I believe this is where Linux comes into its own. Yes, of course it's a good server platform (the best?); yes it is excellent on the desktop, and fitted for schools in that purpose but to make that happen schools have got to make the jump in the end knowing that from a *technological* point-of-view, Linux will serve the students better than using a proprietary solution. The question has to be in the end- do we want Microsoft engineers or computer engineers? Do we want programmers with languages such as Python and Perl behind them, or programmers who *know* visual basic and Microsoft C++?? Is it *databases* you want to teach or Access? Is it Excel you are feeding the students, or are you teaching them *spreadsheets*?? Which model will best equip the students to adapt to a future IT job market where broad skills are needed, not just specific application skills or even knowledge of one OS. Of course, this is just my opinion :-) Paul