Office 2004 -> Office 2008 Upgrade Package: How many licenses?!

[jsb]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther)

I have used Office on Mac for a very long time, and have a multi-machine license that came with my current Office 2004. If I buy the upgrade option for Office 2008, will I be able to upgrade each of my other 5 that are operating under the previous license? How many licenses are included in the upgrade?

At the current price, purchasing the upgrade doesn't make sense for me if I can't update each of the machines already under one license for Office 2004.

FWIW, some of the Macs are newer Intel, and some are not.

Thanks,

- jsb

 

[CyberTaz]

Based on your system info it's a moot point - Office 2008 require OS X
10.4.9 as a minimum requirement, you're only running 10.3... however

If you do upgrade your OS you'll have to provide more info about your 2004
package in order to have the question answered - I don't know of any prior
packages that include 5 user licenses for Mac Office. The only edition of
2008 that offers multiple licenses (available through normal channels,
anyway) is Home & Student which offers 3 licenses. If you have some sort of
a specialty package of 2004 you will most likely have to go through the
source from which you obtained it or contact MS directly.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[jsb]

All machines are on 10.5-- I incorrectly clicked on Panther instead of Leopard.

I just grabbed the Office 2004 case and see that it's actually three licenses, and they are 3 separate numbers (on 3 separate stickers) on the back of the DVD-style case. The version is Student and Teacher edition.

So on top of having to get three upgrade versions, I can't even move to the lower cost 2008 (no Exchange Server support) without losing the existing Exchange support that I have (and use) in 2004 today?

Thanks for your time / assistance.

- jsb

 

[Diane Ross]

So on top of having to get three upgrade versions, I can't even move to the
lower cost 2008 (no Exchange Server support) without losing the existing
Exchange support that I have (and use) in 2004 today?

Not to rub salt in the wound, but Microsoft offered a Suite Deal that
allowed any version to update to the full version including Expressions
Media. Promotion now over.

 

[jsb]

wow. this all really stinks. last time i checked on trying to buy an upgrade for my Mac Office 2004, all i remember seeing from MS was "no more support for mac" everywhere.

does anyone have any advice other than not upgrading any of my machines? (which looks like the only thing that makes sense for me.)

thanks,

- jsb

 

[Diane Ross]

does anyone have any advice other than not upgrading any of my machines?
(which looks like the only thing that makes sense for me.)

The standard version that includes Exchange support lets you install on one
desktop and one laptop. You can't have then running at the same time on a
network though. This would reduce by one the number of copies you need to
buy. Leave one computer on 2004 and you would be covered for VBA and have
2008 Exchange improvements on two computers.