Buying MS Office: Licenses
Friday, February 5th, 2010 - 4:28pm
So we've got three computers (laptop, netbook, desktop) we use regularly for our home-based writing and editing company, but none of them have Office 2007 (well one does, but it's running low on trial uses). Ideally, we would install Office 2007 on all of them, but I don't want to spend more money per license than is necessary. Anyone know any tricks to minimizing costs on this?
Piracy.
Open Office.
I believe the Home and Student version allows for up to 3 computer at one time.
Eezy_Bordone wrote:
OpenOffice is free.
Failing that, if you still have access to a .edu email address, you can get the student discounted Office 2007 for $60.
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jonnypolite wrote:
Now that I have a netbook, chances are the above post was written while on the toilet.
I've got Open Office on the desktop already. It's not perfect when it comes to ediitng things that've already been heavily formatted in Word, though.
Is there something to this "# licenses per box, but only some can be used on laptops" stuff I"m reading?
Quintin_Stone wrote:
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Where are you reading that?
Eezy_Bordone wrote:
Microsoft TechNet may be something you're interested in. It's $200-$300 for a yearly subscription that gives you access to most Microsoft software, ten licenses each. It's supposed to be used by developers to test their programs or something, but you can read the T&C for more info...
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The most legitimate place I'm seeing it is at Wikipedia's rundown of the hojillion different editions.
Quintin_Stone wrote:
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E Hunnie's still in school, and brought up her need of Office 2007 today as part of that, so I suppose getting her the $60 version wouldn't hurt. Might still need a "don't promise it's non-profit" version for me, though.
Quintin_Stone wrote:
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I bought a copy of "Home and Student" (no ID required) and it came with three independent license numbers. Running on my desktop, my laptop and a third PC without any problem.
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"One main device and one additional portable device"
Is that what you mean? I have no idea what that means.
Like Rabbit said, the Home and Student will work on three computers.
Eezy_Bordone wrote:
The Home edition is cheap, as mentioned, and doesn't include Outlook (think you get OneNote, which I hear is great). I've re-installed my licenses tons of times on the same few pcs with no "contact ms" issues arising (and honestly, it's a real simple phone call if it does).
The Home version though is supposed to be non-commercial, if I'm not mistaken. I may be.
Also, you can snag like a 90 day trial online, so that could hold you both over until you make a decision.
elewis17 wrote:
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Indeed it is. I've had to do one once. So painless that I almost forgot about it.
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jonnypolite wrote:
Now that I have a netbook, chances are the above post was written while on the toilet.
The home edition is three licenses but like you said Word, it is for non-profit/commercial use. That said, no one is going to come knocking down your door if you use the home/student but if you buy a retail version for your business you should be able to write it off as an expense.
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Theres also the Office 2010 Beta going on right now that's good until October.
elewis17 wrote:
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If you can get away with it, get away from Microsoft Office. You'll be asking the same question a couple of years down the line, and has been mentioned above, OpenOffice and Symphony are both free (to different degrees).
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I agree with this to a certain extent, but with the amount of use it seems like they will be utilizing (and noticing that he already uses in the OP), Office 2007's polish is worth the small investment - plus he gets the 100% compatibility he needs. I simply cannot use anything pre-2007 due to the way they've cleaned it up. The ribbon took a little getting used to, but man, I like it much better.
Definitely do the 60/90 day trial and see if it's worth the investment.
elewis17 wrote:
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Well, wordy makes a good point. Documents that have already been formatted in Word do not always translate well to Open Office. And vice versa. I found that out the hard way when working on my resume last year. It completely borked the entire thing and I had to start from scratch.
Eezy_Bordone wrote: