Yes it's true, if you are a member of the NHS then you are entitled to a free copy of Microsoft Office 2007, 2003 or Office XP for home use. Mac owners can also benefit with a free copy of Office 2004 available. The only thing that you need to pay for is packaging and handling costs which amounts to less than £18 compared with the hundreds of pounds that you could potentially fork out if you buy it from a shop or online.

Being an NHS member myself I was a bit surprised that I had not heard of this arrangement before now. I only found out during a course that I was teaching at when someone happened to mention it in passing.

For full details on this offer point your browser to the Microsoft Home User Programme in the Microsoft NHS Resource Centre pages.