2004 vs 2008

[JohnKGibson]

Hi everyone,

Ok... I have 22 licenses of Office 2004 and use the disk given to me
by Microsoft Open Licensing.

I need to purchase more licenses, but I have come to the conclusions
that office 2008 is not worth it. I really don't want to deal with
the issues that I have been seeing in 2008 and am wondering:

1) If I purchase Office 2008 Standard Edition, and keep it on the
shelf, and simply install 2004, will that take care of the licensing
issue?

2) Will I be forced to 2008, with MS simply not fixing bugs in 2004,
and then have to install a inferior product simply because it will
run?

What are other users doing out there? I have looked into some of the
alternates:

Iwork - Good for basics, but if you have involved spreadsheets with
Macros then 2004.

Open Office - Pretty nice, but SLOOOWWW, doesn't seem as rich an
enviornment

Neo-Office - Based on Open Office - Also seems to be slow...

I am just trying to figure out where I should investigating on this
end.

Thanks for the suggestions, because these MS groups are really
helpful.

John Gibson

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi John;

See the in line responses below...

1) If I purchase Office 2008 Standard Edition, and keep it on the
shelf, and simply install 2004, will that take care of the licensing
issue?

I'm not exactly sure what you mean, but if you're asking if the product keys
from a 2008 package can be used to support additional installations of 2004
my expectation would be No. I'd suggest you contact your organization's MS
rep for clarification, though.

2) Will I be forced to 2008, with MS simply not fixing bugs in 2004,
and then have to install a inferior product simply because it will
run?

I'm rather confident that 2004 will continue to be supported at least until
the next major release. Whether there will be any major revisions to it,
however, is highly doubtful. I don't know that there has been - or will
be -anything official from MS on either point, but the odds are pretty good.

I don't see any reason why you would be "forced" to use 2008. Historically
MS upgrade policy has embraced several versions prior to a new release and I
see no reason for them to change that. Further, it's quite common for high
volume users [both PC as well as Mac] of Office to only upgrade to alternate
releases. MacBU is keenly aware of the shortcomings of 2008 & would have
nothing to gain by requiring that users invest in it just to then migrate to
"Office Next" - which promises the return of VBA & will undoubtedly be a
major advancement over both 2008 & 2004.

 

[Diane Ross]

2) Will I be forced to 2008, with MS simply not fixing bugs in 2004,
and then have to install a inferior product simply because it will
run?

You will never be forced to update. At some point they will stop issuing
updates.

Everyone should be aware that all software has a support period detailed
by Microsoft's "Support Lifecycle Policy" and that includes each version
of Office:mac. That support policy is stated on Microsoft's website.
I'll point you here for reference
<http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy>.

In a nutshell, Microsoft will support a consumer level product, such as
Office:mac, for five years after release or for two years after the
successor product is released, whichever is longer.

Even if they don't support it you can continue to use it. Entourage X
supported ended January 9, 2007, but users continue to use it.