"To say the very least, me and my friends were quite resentful for doing that because they let us have it long enough for us to be dependent upon it and then pulled the rug out from underneath us," Rosssaid.

Other students found easier ways around theproblem. Matthew G. H. Chun '02 said he borrowed afriend's disk and put the programs on his computerat no cost. He added that he doubts the new policywill be effective in bringing in extra revenue.

"I don't see what the purpose was for Microsofttaking it away because it probably created more aproblem for them," Chun said.

While many students have found alternatives topaying, Microsoft profited from at least onestudent.

Paul F. Ramirez '02 chose to order the program.Ramirez said the quick disappearance of thenetwork programs and the university's lack ofexplanation were additional problems with the newpolicy.

Like students, Faculty have had to makeadjustments following the policy change. Preceptorin Cellular and Molecular Biology Lauraine A.Dalton wrote in an e-mail message that spreadsheetprograms aid in efficient calculations in somebiology courses, and that the departmentrecommended Excel in the past because it wasaccessible from Macs and PCs.

Because of the new policy, she noted thedepartment will still recommend a spreadsheetprogram, but will not specify Excel. Additionally,it will offer example calculations in the programsoffered on the Harvard network.

"The immediate feedback offered to users of aspreadsheet is of significant instructionalvalue," she wrote.

She added that to minimize student expenses,the department will not recommend that studentspurchase an expensive program.

Steen said he does not expect the change to bea problem.

The university purchased a copy of the programsfor each of the public university-owned machines,including laboratory and office machines.

Steen said that based on the number ofcomplaints he had received, few students wereinconvenienced by the change.

He added that the previous system wasinconvenient for laptop users, who make up abouthalf of all students. Laptop users who normallyaccess the programs on the Harvard network couldnot use the programs on their computers when theywere away from the network, including when theywere at home for vacations.

"We're finding that we've prepared for theimpact," Steen said. "We bought additionalsoftware, and the impact has not been great sofar."

FAS Computer Services provides course softwarefrom other companies