Author Topic: Office 2007 Ultimate for $59.99 (if you're a student) (Read 18770 times)

Darwin · « **on:** September 14, 2007, 07:19 PM »

Microsoft is offering Office 2007 Ultimate to students for $59.95 through April 30, 2008. Note the links in the upper right of the screen - similar offers are available in Canada, the UK, France, Spain and Italy...

EDIT: removed Australia from the list of countries the offer is available to... I was free associating at that point, I guess

PhilB66 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 14, 2007, 08:20 PM »

The Ultimate Steal??? I'd rather steal OpenOffice

BTW, this promo program was offered in Australia earlier this year as a pilot scheme but I don't think it's still available for Aussies. Anyway there is no link for Australia.

PhilB66 · « **Reply #2 on:** September 14, 2007, 11:34 PM »

Those who run Office 2003 ... read Did you know you can legally install Retail Office 2003 on a Desktop and Laptop? Its in the Eula!.

Armando · « **Reply #3 on:** September 15, 2007, 11:33 AM »

Thanks Darwin. it IS a pretty good deal.
I would probably buy it but.... the problems I had with certain (very long) documents in word 2007 really makes me hesitate.
Also, I've heard that OUtlook 2007 can be extremely slow.
Are you yourself using Office 2007?

Eóin · « **Reply #4 on:** September 15, 2007, 01:38 PM »

Actually I must say I really like Office 2003. Always makes me realise just of slow and bloated OpenOffice.org really is

I would love to take advantage of this offer but Ireland isn't included. I can appreciate the difficulty in managing such an offer on a global scale, but if they can provide it in some EU countries I can't imagine there'd be any huge hurdles catering for the rest.

Darwin · « **Reply #5 on:** September 15, 2007, 01:47 PM »

Eóin, as far as I can tell, this is an online offer - you download the trial and purchase a key to unlock it, which makes it even more bizarre in my books.

Armando, like you and Eóin, I am still using Office 2003. There isn't really any compelling reason that I can think of to upgrade. I am tempted by the offer but I am technically a student in the UK - so UK prices. I have a valid Canadian college e-mail address but I'm an instructor, not a student - if them came after me looking for proof I'd be up the creek either way as my student card for the UK is expired and I'll have to fly over there to renew it. Cheaper to just buy Office! So, I suspect that I *could* make this work and take advantage of it, but I'm not sure I can see the point. I have Office 2003 Pro so am pretty much set. I am unaware of any compelling reason to upgrade. Can anyone chime in here and suggest a reason to upgrade?

edbro · « **Reply #6 on:** September 15, 2007, 01:52 PM »

For those of us in the US military, you can get Office 2007 for $20. Just call your admin folks and ask about the MS Home User program.

Having said all that, I like the 2003 interface better than the new ribbon. I'm using 2007 but I have an add-in that brings back the old toolbars as a tab in the new ribbon.

Armando · « **Reply #7 on:** September 15, 2007, 02:12 PM »

I have an add-in that brings back the old toolbars as a tab in the new ribbon.
-edbro (September 15, 2007, 01:52 PM)

Should call it a "subtract-out"...

Armando · « **Reply #8 on:** September 15, 2007, 02:15 PM »

thanks Darwin

Can anyone chime in here and suggest a reason to upgrade?
-Darwin (September 15, 2007, 01:47 PM)

(Don't try to find good reasons to install yet something else...)
But... I'd be interested too.

Josh · « **Reply #9 on:** September 15, 2007, 02:32 PM »

For those in the US Military, go to https://ascp.monmout...scp/software/hup.jsp and login with your AKO account. Full details are there. You can get Office 2003/2007 and other associated office apps for $20 each (Visio, Project, etc).

Darwin · « **Reply #10 on:** September 15, 2007, 03:42 PM »

Hmm... just noticed this article in PCMag online that confirms that this is a download only offer and that it was "piloted" in Australia. Those anitpodeans are a progressive lot, arent' they? This line struck me:

Although Microsoft didn't specify, the Web address – "the ultimate steal" – may be a reference to illegal piracy.

Grorgy · « **Reply #11 on:** September 15, 2007, 05:18 PM »

Yeah, I was vaguely tempted by the offer when it was available here, but I have 2003 pro which I can use on my desk pc and on my laptop, and the offer licence only allowed 1 pc to have it installed. And I saw no compelling reason to upgrade.

steeladept · « **Reply #12 on:** September 16, 2007, 12:18 PM »

For those in the US Military, go to https://ascp.monmout...scp/software/hup.jsp and login with your AKO account. Full details are there. You can get Office 2003/2007 and other associated office apps for $20 each (Visio, Project, etc).
-Josh (September 15, 2007, 02:32 PM)

Sorry, no go Josh. It is apparently only Army. Air Force and Navy/Marine component members are apparently out of luck on this one. Please prove me wrong, but I haven't seen the equivalent anywhere except at some universities. I would love to upgrade from 2000 to 2003/7 on my machines. OpenOffice is nice, but compatibility (with work) forces me to stay with M$ and their "wonderful" new formats. I have been putting off the upgrade at home trying to get the company to buy it for me, but so far that has not worked out. OO has worked fine otherwise.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #13 on:** September 17, 2007, 04:16 AM »

According to the UK site it is £38.95 which at current rates equates to $78 - why can't MS do sums?

Actually if you start the order process it does say you can buy a DVD-ROM for a nominal charge if you don't want to rely on downloads.

OK you can only install it on one machine but at that price you can buy a couple of copies if you need to (assuming they let you buy more than one license at that price).

Personally I can see no compelling reason to move on from Office 2003 (esp. as Outlook 2007 is notoriously bad and will probably need a couple of service packs to get it working properly) - however if I were still using Office 200 or XP I would probably upgrade.

For anyone interested note that you get full copies of:

* Word 2007
* Excel 2007
* PowerPoint 2007
* Publisher 2007
* Access 2007
* Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager
* OneNote 2007
* InfoPath 2007
* Groove 2007

and so it is almost worth it just for OneNote 2007.

I suppose I am slightly tempted - does anyone know if you can install Office 2007 without Outlook and retain Outlook 2003 ? The beats allowed that because the PST file format changes and can't be easily reverted to XP/2003 format but I don't know if you can do this in the full release version.

Buy the way - the academic check is done by the use of academic email addresses (at least in the UK) but they may also contact you to provide further documentary proof (student card or other written confirmation).

There is also a minimum requirement that your course enrolment must be at least 50% full time equivalent.

Also you can only purchase one copy - here are the relevant bits:

Eligibility: Entry into this promotion may only be made by students who are enrolled at, and possess an email address with the suffix ‘ac.uk’ at an educational institution geographically located in the United Kingdom. This offer is non-transferable. This offer cannot be combined with any other Microsoft offers or rebates.

Microsoft or an appointed vendor may contact you to verify that you are a current student. If documentation is not provided indicating that you are a current student, you will be liable to reimburse Microsoft for the full retail cost of the software (£599.99)

Promtion Limits: Only one trial download and one purchase per eligible student will be accepted. Entry constitutes full and unconditional acceptance of these terms and conditions. Microsoft reserve the right to exclude any individual who is in breach of these terms and conditions. This offer is subject to availability.

Given that you can only purchase a single copy and it can't be installed on more than one computer that makes the decision clear for me - especially as it may not install again if you upgrade your computer with memory or a larger hard disc (at least that was suggested for the Windows Vista activation system and so presumably similar provisions apply to Office 2007 - haven't checked tho')

Armando · « **Reply #14 on:** September 17, 2007, 03:07 PM »

I suppose I am slightly tempted -
-Carol Haynes (September 17, 2007, 04:16 AM)

I am VERY tempted. I'm just affraid I'll be loosing time trying to make everything work the way they should, etc. I already know that some of my DOCs aren't read properly in Word 2007. A real shame.

Office 2007 is also slower (of course), more resource hungry, etc. etc.

anyone know if you can install Office 2007 without Outlook and retain Outlook 2003
-Carol Haynes (September 17, 2007, 04:16 AM)

Normally, you can. Haven't tried it though.
But here's a reference (among many others):

To keep Outlook 2003, click the Installation Options tab and set Microsoft Office Outlook to Not Available. To install Outlook 2007 in place of Outlook 2003, select Remove only the following applications and then check just the Microsoft Office Outlook box.

http://pcworld.co.nz...9F5FCC2572EA001C1EA6

[edit : added some details...]

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #15 on:** September 17, 2007, 03:21 PM »

Thanks - the killer for me is the one computer limit. When the student version of Office 2003 was released the license allowed you to install it on 3 computers!

Armando · « **Reply #16 on:** September 17, 2007, 03:29 PM »

the killer for me is the one computer limit.
-Carol Haynes (September 17, 2007, 03:21 PM)

Oh yes... that would be another one. Would be good if it was possible to buy 2 licenses at the same bargain price... (2 x £38.95 )...

PhilB66 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 18, 2007, 11:33 AM »

Slightly off topic but still I thought I would post it ... Microsoft disabling Word 2003's 'fast save' feature.

Darwin · « **Reply #18 on:** September 18, 2007, 12:48 PM »

PhilB66 - thanks for the link, good to know.

I am going to pass on this deal as well - I don't need Outlook to be any slower/more of resource hog and the one licence per e-mail address/one installation per licence is not even remotely interesting to me. Sun can develop Star Office and GIVE it to students and faculty, sell it to the general public for about $70 USD and give away OpenOffice, why can't M$ do better than this?

Curt · « **Reply #19 on:** September 18, 2007, 04:57 PM »

The Office 2003 that I have is the Danish and modest Teacher/Student 's version, but I have not yet been able to find an offer on any Danish Office 2007 versions what so ever - Microsoft Denmark's homepage is merely saying "prices are not yet available". An English Office Ultimate at only sixty eight dollar (Office Ultimate at a tenth of the normal price!!!) would surely make me forget about localized language versions...

I envy you guys this offer!