Downgrading Office 2007 to 2003

[Flaps]

Hi,

We are wondering how we would go about downgrading office 2007 Pro to Office
2003. Might I stress that these are not OEM, but are Retail Boxed versions of
Office 2007.
First question... do we have rights to downgrade to 2003 using retail
version of 2007?
Second question... If we do have rights to downgrade, how would we go about
entering a product key for office 2003?
The reason why we want to downgrade is because of compatability issues with
some documents in 2007.

Regards

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

No, there is no downgrade path to Office 2003 for retail packages. Only for
Volume or Enterprise licenses.

Have you tried the Office 2007 compatibility pack for Office 2003?

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Flaps asked:

| Hi,
|
| We are wondering how we would go about downgrading office 2007 Pro to
| Office 2003. Might I stress that these are not OEM, but are Retail
| Boxed versions of Office 2007.
| First question... do we have rights to downgrade to 2003 using retail
| version of 2007?
| Second question... If we do have rights to downgrade, how would we go
| about entering a product key for office 2003?
| The reason why we want to downgrade is because of compatability
| issues with some documents in 2007.
|
| Regards

 

[Flaps]

Thanks for your response.

With regards to this "compatability pack" is this the inbuilt compatability
options, or is this a downlaod that is avaliable? If so, would you mind
linking me to this so I can see if this is an option we can take?

Thnx in advance.

 

[Alias]

Thanks for your response.

With regards to this "compatability pack" is this the inbuilt compatability
options, or is this a downlaod that is avaliable? If so, would you mind
linking me to this so I can see if this is an option we can take?

Thnx in advance.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...70-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

Alias

No, there is no downgrade path to Office 2003 for retail packages. Only for
Volume or Enterprise licenses.

Have you tried the Office 2007 compatibility pack for Office 2003?

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Flaps asked:

| Hi,
|
| We are wondering how we would go about downgrading office 2007 Pro to
| Office 2003. Might I stress that these are not OEM, but are Retail
| Boxed versions of Office 2007.
| First question... do we have rights to downgrade to 2003 using retail
| version of 2007?
| Second question... If we do have rights to downgrade, how would we go
| about entering a product key for office 2003?
| The reason why we want to downgrade is because of compatability
| issues with some documents in 2007.
|
| Regards

 

[Flaps]

Im afraid this is not an option, as we need to steer clear of office 2007.
Thank you for your help anyway, Im sure there are some office 2003 licenses
around still.

Thanks for your response.

With regards to this "compatability pack" is this the inbuilt compatability
options, or is this a downlaod that is avaliable? If so, would you mind
linking me to this so I can see if this is an option we can take?

Thnx in advance.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...70-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

Alias

No, there is no downgrade path to Office 2003 for retail packages. Only for
Volume or Enterprise licenses.

Have you tried the Office 2007 compatibility pack for Office 2003?

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Flaps asked:

| Hi,
|
| We are wondering how we would go about downgrading office 2007 Pro to
| Office 2003. Might I stress that these are not OEM, but are Retail
| Boxed versions of Office 2007.
| First question... do we have rights to downgrade to 2003 using retail
| version of 2007?
| Second question... If we do have rights to downgrade, how would we go
| about entering a product key for office 2003?
| The reason why we want to downgrade is because of compatability
| issues with some documents in 2007.
|
| Regards

 

[Alias]

Im afraid this is not an option, as we need to steer clear of office 2007.
Thank you for your help anyway, Im sure there are some office 2003 licenses
around still.

Yep:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss...s=software&field-keywords=office+2003&x=0&y=0

Don't know if this would help:

http://www.openoffice.org/

Alias

Thanks for your response.

With regards to this "compatability pack" is this the inbuilt compatability
options, or is this a downlaod that is avaliable? If so, would you mind
linking me to this so I can see if this is an option we can take?

Thnx in advance. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...70-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

Alias
:

No, there is no downgrade path to Office 2003 for retail packages. Only for
Volume or Enterprise licenses.

Have you tried the Office 2007 compatibility pack for Office 2003?

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Flaps asked:

| Hi,
|
| We are wondering how we would go about downgrading office 2007 Pro to
| Office 2003. Might I stress that these are not OEM, but are Retail
| Boxed versions of Office 2007.
| First question... do we have rights to downgrade to 2003 using retail
| version of 2007?
| Second question... If we do have rights to downgrade, how would we go
| about entering a product key for office 2003?
| The reason why we want to downgrade is because of compatability
| issues with some documents in 2007.
|
| Regards

 

[Gordon]

Im afraid this is not an option, as we need to steer clear of office 2007.
Thank you for your help anyway, Im sure there are some office 2003
licenses
around still.

How is installing the Office 2007 compatibility pack "not an option"?

 

[Flaps]

Because there is 3rd party software suppliers that some of our sites use that
do not support office 2007 and insist we use office 2003... so the
"compatability pack" is not what we need.

We cannot get hold of any office 2003 licenses... after doing research I
have come accross this Downgrade Rights chart here:

http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache...003&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=uk&client=firefox-a

And one of the questions say:

Which 2007 Microsoft Office system suites are eligible to downgrade to
Office 2003 suites?

In which an answer says:

Customers who have licensed Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007 are
eligible to downgrade to Office Professional Enterprise 2003 and all previous
versions as described above. Customers who have licensed Microsoft Office
Standard 2007 are eligible to downgrade to Office Standard Edition 2003 and
all previous versions of Office Standard Edition.

This tells me that "volume licensing" is not needed for downgrading to
office 2003...

If someone can please give me an answer on how we can downgrade, it would be
appreicated, as I don't see why paying for an office 2007 license will not
cover a 2003 license seeing as it is more expensive.

 

[Gordon]

Because there is 3rd party software suppliers that some of our sites use
that
do not support office 2007 and insist we use office 2003... so the
"compatability pack" is not what we need.

The compatibility pack does NOT change Office 2003 into 2007! You KEEP
Office 2003! It's an ADD-IN that allows Office 2003 to read Office 2007
documents...that's all!

 

[JoAnn Paules]

Why don't you just set your systems up to default to savings as the 97-2003
format?

 

[Flaps]

Yes I know this, and never said that it turned it into 2007.

Basically Office 2007 is NOT being used in a number of our sites, we do not
need a compatability pack for Office 2003 as they do not use or recieve any
office 2007 documents.

The 3rd party software that is an important piece of software for our sites
does not work with office 2007... We do not know why, all we have been told
is that they do not support it and 2003 is needed to use with their software.

We cannot go to their company and say "Use this compatability pack" as we do
not have any authority over their users.

All it is that I am asking is that we can buy office 2007 easily, but are
struggling to obtain 2003 packages as it is gradually outdating... If we buy
an office 2007 license (not OEM) it should cover an office 2003 license?

This is why we do not need to use the "compatability pack". It's not Office
2003 that is the problem, it is office 2007.

 

[Tom [Pepper] Willett]

: All it is that I am asking is that we can buy office 2007 easily, but are
: struggling to obtain 2003 packages as it is gradually outdating... If we
buy
: an office 2007 license (not OEM) it should cover an office 2003 license?

No.

 

[Meebers]

And....assuming you had 2003 before, install it.

Why don't you just set your systems up to default to savings as the
97-2003 format?

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]
Tech Editor for "Microsoft Publisher 2007 For Dummies"

Hi,

We are wondering how we would go about downgrading office 2007 Pro to
Office
2003. Might I stress that these are not OEM, but are Retail Boxed
versions of
Office 2007.
First question... do we have rights to downgrade to 2003 using retail
version of 2007?
Second question... If we do have rights to downgrade, how would we go
about
entering a product key for office 2003?
The reason why we want to downgrade is because of compatability issues
with
some documents in 2007.

Regards

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

It sounds to me as if:

- You already have some 2003 licenses and they work find with this
third party software you rely on.

- You need to purchase more licenses and they must also function with
the same third party software.

- 2007 does not function with the third party software

Being able to interchange documents between 2007/2003 users is nice,
but its' not your problem.

Getting the third party software to work IS. And that's why you need
2003 licenses.

Given the information about downgrading you've found, it seems that
you'll need to call MS for further information. We're all volunteers
here and can't give you a binding answer one way or the other.

 

[Flaps]

Thank you, you have it spot on.

It is one of those situations where we have bought 2007 licenses but they do
not work with the software.

Will be calling microsoft, to explain why a downgrade is not possible,
seeing as the licenses we bought are retail and cost more than 2003.

Thanks again

 

[Gordon]

Thank you, you have it spot on.

It is one of those situations where we have bought 2007 licenses but they
do
not work with the software.

Err so you didn't TEST it first, with a trial version?????????

 

[Flaps]

Gordon, you obviously haven't read what has been written.

The software does not work with 2007, we have always known this. The
licenses we have now, we have had for a long time which haven't been used. We
are currently struggling to obtain 2003 licenses as the software is becomming
outdated.

So instead of trying to find holes in my question, I am looking for
professional responses in which a couple of people have given me already.

regards

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Flops,

To add to Steve's reply, if you're not able to get an upgrade to the 3rd
party software and if you are using multiple Office licenses you may want to
look at the Microsoft Volume License programs rather than purchasing retail
licenses: http://microsoft.com/office/licensing
The mininimum first buy starts at 5 microsoft product licenses (they don't
have to all be Office) and it's usually the Volume License Software
Assurance program provisions that allow the use of downgrade versions.

===========
Thank you, you have it spot on.

It is one of those situations where we have bought 2007 licenses but they do
not work with the software.

Will be calling microsoft, to explain why a downgrade is not possible,
seeing as the licenses we bought are retail and cost more than 2003.

Thanks again >>

Bob Buckland ?
Microsoft Office Products MVP

 

[Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]]

Office 2007 Professional Plus is a volume license only version. The quote
you cite grants downgrade rights from one volume license to another volume
license version, specifically Office 2003 Enterprise.

From the page that you cite, and I quote:

FPP End User License Agreement Downgrade rights are not granted under
most FPP applications licenses. Downgrade rights are not granted under FPP
system licenses.
Downgrade rights are not granted under most FPP server licenses. The
exception is the FPP License Terms for Windows Server 2003. See the full
text of the FPP License Terms for the specific downgrade rights.


As you can read, Full Packaged Product licenses are not eligible for
downgrade. Only Volume, Enterprise and Software Assurance can take
advantage of downgrade rights, not OEM nor retail.

The page from which you quote is from their Volume Licensing definitions
white paper.

--
Milly Staples [MVP - Outlook]

Post all replies to the group to keep the discussion intact.
ALWAYS post your Outlook version.
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/KB/555375


After furious head scratching, Flaps asked:

| Because there is 3rd party software suppliers that some of our sites
| use that do not support office 2007 and insist we use office 2003...
| so the "compatability pack" is not what we need.
|
| We cannot get hold of any office 2003 licenses... after doing
| research I have come accross this Downgrade Rights chart here:
|
|
http://74.125.77.132/search?q=cache...003&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=uk&client=firefox-a
|
| And one of the questions say:
|
| Which 2007 Microsoft Office system suites are eligible to downgrade to
| Office 2003 suites?
|
| In which an answer says:
|
| Customers who have licensed Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2007
| are eligible to downgrade to Office Professional Enterprise 2003 and
| all previous versions as described above. Customers who have licensed
| Microsoft Office Standard 2007 are eligible to downgrade to Office
| Standard Edition 2003 and all previous versions of Office Standard
| Edition.
|
| This tells me that "volume licensing" is not needed for downgrading to
| office 2003...
|
| If someone can please give me an answer on how we can downgrade, it
| would be appreicated, as I don't see why paying for an office 2007
| license will not cover a 2003 license seeing as it is more expensive.
|
| "Gordon" wrote:
|
|| ||| Im afraid this is not an option, as we need to steer clear of
||| office 2007. Thank you for your help anyway, Im sure there are some
||| office 2003 licenses
||| around still.
||
||
|| How is installing the Office 2007 compatibility pack "not an option"?

 

[Steve Rindsberg]

Thank you, you have it spot on.

Thanks; I was beginning to wonder. ;-)

Would you please let us know what you find out from MS about the downgrade?
I'd appreciate that.