The retail version of Microsoft’s Newest Suite is now available in Australia and as a student at an Australian University or TAFE you can grab the Professional Academic version of the Office 2010 for AUD 99.00 via Microsoft’s Its Not Cheating Program.

Following the great response to the Office 2010 beta with more than nine million beta users world-wide, Microsoft has continued to refine the dramatic overhaul that it began with the 2007 editions of the Office Suite to help users:

• Create great looking documents and presentations. With new video and photo editing features in PowerPoint 2010. Add extensive text effects and table formatting options in Word 2010. Reveal important trends in data with Sparklines in Excel 2010. OneNote 2010 makes everything you need simple to find, organise and share.
• Connect and work together more simply. Advanced e-mail management and calendaring capabilities in Outlook 2010. Work with others more efficiently using new co-authoring in Word 2010, PowerPoint 2010 and OneNote 2010.
• Get things done from anywhere. With Office 2010 and the Office Web Apps – the online companions to Word, PowerPoint, Excel and OneNote, you have the freedom to view, edit, and share Office 2010 documents in the cloud with Windows Live SkyDrive.

One of my favorite improvements to Office 2010 is what Microsoft calls the Backstage view. You might remember Albert giving a demo on this if you attended our Cool Stuff & Cool Internships – Microsoft & AIESEC 2010 event. Offered as a replacement for the File menu, Backstage gives you a launching point to share documents, print out your work, set permissions, and other program specific options to get your project ready for distribution. You’ll find all of the usual document management features, like open and save, here as well, but you’ll also get a nice layout of templates for new documents, several different ways to share your work, and print settings and page layouts all in one place.

For a full overview on all of the new features and review by PCWorld, head here.

In addition to Office 2010, Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade is back again with the same low price of AUD 49.95 on Its Not Cheating Program. All eligible university and TAFE students, staff & faculty, with a valid email address are entitled to make a purchase from the offer website

More info and FAQs on the program and the offers can be found here.

Microsoft has kicked off its “Technology Guarantee” program for Microsoft Office 2010 meaning that anyone who buys and activates Office 2007 between now and September 30, 2010 will get to upgrade to Office 2010 for free when it becomes available, so you don’t have to wait.

The deal is yet another great offer for Australian students who can purchase a copy of Office Ultimate 2007 for only AUD 75.00 via the “It’s not Cheating” program.

This offer is also open to all University/TAFE students & faculty, who possess a valid email address at an educational institution geographically located in Australia.

All you have to do is:

1. Head to It’s not Cheating program website and buy Office 2007 between March 5 and September 30, 2010 for AUD 75.00 by getting yourself qualified as a student.
2. Save your Office 2007 dated sales receipt plus install and activate your copy of Office 2007 by September 30, 2010.
3. When Office 2010 is available, request your upgrade at the Technology Guarantee program website.

More info and FAQs at Technology Guarantee and It’s not Cheating.

Note – If your University/TAFE does not provide you with an email address, here is how you can help verify your eligibility to the program.

Also the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade offer priced at AUD 49.95 is still up but this offer will only last until the end of this month.

Source: [It’s not Cheating]

For those who did not attend the XNA Game Camp last year, Sunburn is a lighting engine that allows you to worry about your game play, instead of how your graphics look. It offers a powerful array of lighting features, and whilst the Framework itself is restricted to the Windows platform, when you are ready to start testing your game on the XBOX 360, you can use the license that comes with your Premium Creators Club account to try the XBOX version.

This is a great chance to evaluate the framework and see if it is what you are looking for.

The key to all of the above, is certifications. Microsoft is offering students the chance to get certified in many areas of Microsoft technology, such as Windows or .NET, for just $81, 55% off the normal price!

To take advantage of the deal, head to http://www.prometric.com/microsoft/student to register for an exam, or head to http://www.measureup.com/ to sit a practice exam.

Well great news, Microsoft is offering Windows 7 Professional Edition (both 32 and 64bit) to students for only $49.95!

If you are interested in taking advantage of the deal, which lasts until Midnight March 31st 2010, head to www.itsnotcheating.com.au and click on the Windows 7 box (the blue one) at the bottom.

The usual details apply just like the itsnotcheating deal. You must have a .edu email address, and must use that when purchasing Windows 7. This is a digital download, however (HINT: Lifehacker) there are ways to turn the downloaded exe into an iso file.