14 DAY TRIAL // UPDATE: Microsoft contacted us on this matter, and it seems that the offer is a little different that what the CybernetNews article made us believe. Jump to the end of the article to see what the company had to say about the offer.
While customers will have to pay as much as $299.99 for a retail box of Windows 7 Professional, just $20 less than the ultimate SKU, there are a few fortunate users that can grab the edition at a considerable discount. According to CybernetNews, students that join the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) will also be granted access to the Windows 7 Professional bits for free. Why the $19 then? Well, because that’s how much it costs for students to join ACM. Both high-school and undergraduate students can apply, however, they must prove a focus on science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
The official ACM website notes that a “Student Membership (includes online access to CACM) [is] $19 (USD).” It appears that a Student membership guarantees access to the MSDN Academic Alliance. And it is via MSDNAA that students will be able to grab no less than eight license keys for just as many copies of Windows 7.
Of course that students around the world that already have access to MSDNAA do not need to join the Association for Computing Machinery. According to Microsoft, Windows 7 RTM was made available for download via MSDNAA since August 6th, 2009, the date when the gold release of the OS was offered to all MSDN and TechNet subscribers. However, some students, even among those with MSDNAA access, have complained of the fact that Windows 7 was not featured among the downloads available. For those looking for an alternative source of free Windows 7 downloads, ACM seems to provide a way.
“ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession’s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking,” an excerpt from ACM’s profile reads.
UPDATE: Here is what Jim Pinkelman, director of academic programs for Microsoft, stated in his email: "A student membership with ACM still comes with some software benefits of MSDN AA, but Windows 7 is not included in that particular subscription. There are some great deals here for students no doubt, and there is a ton of excitement and interest. But there is also some degree of conjecture on blogs, etc., and there are number of potentially confusing, different offerings, I wanted to make sure the real situation was clear to avoid students thinking they should enroll in ACM as a mechanism to get Windows 7 for free.)
Any and all students can and should take advantage of the $29.99 offer Microsoft has made through the 741 web site. All students can also obtain design and development software at no cost through DreamSpark, Visual Studio, Expression Web, etc. Students in technical degree programs should check with their school or department for an MSDN AA subscription. If there is one in place, students can get a variety of design and development tools, including Windows 7, at no cost. Students can check at the following web site for their school and department: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/academic/dd861347.aspx."