I’ve been wondering for weeks why the BBC and the UK newspapers are devoting so much attention to the primaries. Today, in a perceptive piece, my Observer colleague Peter Preston puts forward an interesting conjecture:

Two things follow. One is a new connection that needs making more clearly. British editors are more fascinated by this presidential race than ever, and not just because it comes with black or feminist drum rolls of history attached. This time, for the Mail, Times, Guardian and Telegraph in particular, there are millions of American readers of their websites to be wooed and served, unique users with ad potential attached. So, who wins in November matters much closer to home.

When the Mail lays into Hillary and Matt Drudge’s site carries that copy, the hits grow exponentially. If Mrs Clinton makes it to the Oval office, the Telegraph would reckon to pick up web readers as it leads a conservative attack that consensual US papers might initially shy away from. If Obama or Clinton win, then the Guardian, which has scored so many points by belabouring George Bush, has a different climate to work in.

And the other thing – on behalf of British readers and viewers at least – is to wonder how many miles and hours of faraway, self-cancelling stuff about moods and hunches the market can endure before the real and abiding election starts next autumn…

Wow! Peter Sayer, of IDG News Service reports on BECTA’s considered opinion of Microsoft Vista:

British schools should not upgrade to Microsoft’s Vista operating system and Office 2007 productivity suite, the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (BECTA) said in a report on the software. It also supported use of the international standard ODF (Open Document Format) for storing files.
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Schools might consider using Vista if rolling out all-new infrastructure, but should not introduce it piecemeal alongside other versions of Windows, or upgrade older machines, said the agency, which is responsible for advising British schools and colleges on their IT use.

“We have not had sight of any evidence to support the argument that the costs of upgrading to Vista in educational establishments would be offset by appropriate benefit,” it said.

The cost of upgrading Britain’s schools to Vista would be £175 million ($350 million), around a third of which would go to Microsoft, the agency said. The rest would go on deployment costs, testing and hardware upgrades, it said.

Even that sum would not be enough to purchase graphics cards capable of displaying Windows Aero Graphics, although that’s no great loss because “there was no significant benefit to schools and colleges in running Aero,” it said.

As for Office 2007, “there remains no compelling case for deployment,” the agency said in its full report, published this week.

The report (pdf) is available from here.

The relevant bit of the Executive Summary reads:

The key recommendations emanating from this final report (all of which we cover in further detail in the report) are as follows.

We advise that upgrading existing ICT systems to Vista is not recommended and that mixed Windows-based operating-system environments should be avoided.

We believe that Vista can be considered where new institution-wide ICT provision is being planned

Recognising the limitations regarding Microsoft’s implementation of the ODF standard and the limited uptake of Microsoft’s new Office 2007 file format, we recommend that in the short term users should continue to use the older Microsoft binary formats (such as .doc)

Schools and colleges should make students, teachers and parents aware of the range of ‘free-to-use’ products (such as office productivity suites) that are available, and how to access and use them.

The ICT industry should be pro-active in facilitating easier access to ‘free-to- use’ office productivity software.

Note: BECTA is the government-funded organisation which advises the UK educational sector on ICT.

Marina Hyde on the significance of Tony Blair’s new career as a celebrity banker…

Just like the Beckhams, the Blairs have the separate autobiographies, the sports foundation, the overplayed ambassadorial roles … even the fashion gaffes. At this rate one half-expects the planned launch of fragrances on the Beckham model – Intimately Blair for him, and Intimately Blair for her. Pending satisfactory sales, they will be followed by Intimately Blair Nightz.

The Beckhams are the ultimate private citizens with lucratively attention-seeking public lives, yet deliciously untrammelled by standards commissioners and the like. What very modern models for a second act they are, and we must long for the day on which their lives and the Blairs’ finally collapse into one another, as both couples are photographed enjoying a free holiday together on the JP Morgan corporate yacht, an image so surpassingly heartwarming it will bring immediate peace to the Middle East and the wider world.