Office now only licensed for ONE computer?

[Robin McInnes]

Hi,

I've been using Office XP since it's release back in 2001(?).

As I recall, it was one of the first MS products that required
'activating', and back then they personal users install it on two
computers: a desktop and a laptop.

I am now thinking of upgrading to Office 2007, but I seem to recall
seeing somewhere that the licence for that now covers only one computer,
the implication being that it will be impossible to activate it on two
at once. Is this correct?

If it is, do MS seriously expect people to buy two copies if they have
the usual combination of a desktop & laptop?

Apologies if this has been covered before.

Thanks in advance,
Robin McInnes

Cheshire, UK

-Si non confectus, non reficiat-

 

[Patrick Schmid [MVP]]

It all depends which license you buy. The full priced boxed retail
license allows you to install it on a desktop & laptop. I don't know
about upgrade retail licenses though.

Patrick Schmid [OneNote MVP]
--------------
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[Bob Buckland ?:-\)]

Hi Robin,

To add to Patrick's reply.

OEM (intended for new PC preinstalls only) copies of Microsoft Office (whether Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003 or Office 2007)
are licensed to the machine they're activated on and are not transferable.

Regular retail Office products (full and upgrade) allow two installs (desktop and portable) for a single user and can be moved to
other computers later.

Special retail packages, such as Microsoft Office Student and Teachers Edition 2003 and Microsoft Office Home & Student Edition 2007
allow up to 3 machines to be activated for one purchase, but have their own limitations. They are special (lower) priced, but don't
support 'upgrade' editions of a newer version of Office later.

Corporate or Enterprise editions are licensed on a per machine basis but can be moved.

Microsoft probably has no expectations on the number of machines you own, except that possibly they'd like to encourage 'more' <g>
but, the sofware license provisions are what they are, and do apply if you fortunate enough to be able to afford multiple PCs.
"It'a not necessarily 'usual' for folks to have more than one PC that are new/powerful enough to both be able to run the 'latest'
version of the software

==============
Hi,

I've been using Office XP since it's release back in 2001(?).

As I recall, it was one of the first MS products that required
'activating', and back then they personal users install it on two
computers: a desktop and a laptop.

I am now thinking of upgrading to Office 2007, but I seem to recall
seeing somewhere that the licence for that now covers only one computer,
the implication being that it will be impossible to activate it on two
at once. Is this correct?

If it is, do MS seriously expect people to buy two copies if they have
the usual combination of a desktop & laptop?

Apologies if this has been covered before.

Thanks in advance,
Robin McInnes

Cheshire, UK >>
--

Bob Buckland ?
MS Office System Products MVP

*Courtesy is not expensive and can pay big dividends*

 

[Robin McInnes]

Hi Robin,

Regular retail Office products (full and upgrade) allow two installs (desktop and portable) for a single user and can be moved to other computers later.

Thanks Bob, that is the reassurance I wanted to hear.

"It'a not necessarily 'usual' for folks to have more than one PC that are new/powerful enough to both be able to run the 'latest' version of the software

Well... my Office 2007 trial version works fine (albeit a bit slowly) on
the only machine I have at the moment, which is a six years old one with
only 128MB of memory. :-[ ...So they don't need to be all that new
or powerful!

I just now intend getting a cheap new laptop, and I didn't relish the
idea of paying more for one piece of software than for my new computer.

Cheers,
Robin McInnes
Cheshire, UK

-Si non confectus, non reficiat-