licensing versions

[AnnVanV]

I am shopping for new Office licenses (XP/2002 or 2003) and see retailers
online with "CD only" versions. The descriptios read to the effect it is a
full, retail (not OEM, Adademic, Government, etc) but is shipped only with a
CD and COA/Keycode, not manuals and no box. Is this a legitimate product?

 

[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Ann,

MS Volume License holders (http://microsoft.com/licensing)
can purchase CD media to support the licenses they purchase.
Retail copies of MS Office are in boxes (There haven't been
any real 'manuals' from MS in the product boxes for some time).

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/ww/office.mspx
http://microsoft.com/piracy
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/Resources_shopping.mspx

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I am shopping for new Office licenses (XP/2002 or 2003) and see retailers
online with "CD only" versions. The descriptios read to the effect it is a
full, retail (not OEM, Adademic, Government, etc) but is shipped only with a
CD and COA/Keycode, not manuals and no box. Is this a legitimate product?>>
--
Let us know if this helped you,

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

Office 2003 Editions explained
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/editions.mspx

 

[AnnVanV]

I errored in my original question slightly. The keycode in on an orange
sticker, not a COA. Not that they are necessarily telling the truth, but the
retailer (and there are actually several with what appears to be the same
product) swear it is fully legitimate, and perfectly legal for me to use -
The CD describes in a manner consistent with the details on the How to tell
page, yet without a COA sticker, I wonder...

Does Microsoft issue product that would have this appearance? What is the
impact of not having a COA sticker? Is there another way to tell when it is
installed that it is not legit?