Until today, I’ve been very reluctant to address Microsoft’s mentality toward the enlightened small business and freelance business.

Microsoft released Microsoft Office Accounting Express 2007 for free. Yes, for free. Their disclaimer even says, “no strings”. I have not tested the “no strings” claim.

This is the not the first free product they’ve offered to keep brand value high and entice business users to migrate to their paid software once the free versions are not powerful enough. Windows Defender, SQL Server Express, and LiveWriter are other examples. Their upgrade cohorts are ISA (in a sense), SQL Server Workgroup and above, and Word.

Maybe the new leadership is changing the thinking in Redmond…

As many of my friends know, I’m concerned about our educational system. Probably more direct, I want to know how to be more like a Chinese or Indian parent. Sure, that’s not PC, but its true.

This presentation (in PowerPoint) is wonderful. It was used in a school board presentation.

The ideas were brought together from numerous data sources. After you see them, you may think about the future for at least a few minutes.

Jill Konrath points out a great PR/Marketing spoof related to enterprise software sales. You’ve got to see it.