Office X - problems down the road with Student version?

[nhaims]

I'm currently a student, so I want to take advantage by buying the
student version of office. But...am I correct in fearing that this
version will be restricted from upgrading to future versions? I just
don't want to get screwed by Microsoft and I haven't found any
documentation on line that indicates any difference whatsoever between
the standard and student versions aside from pricing and packaging.
But something tells me that I should play it safe and go with the
standard version for the sake of the future. What do you think?

- Nolan

 

[J.E. McGimpsey]

I'm currently a student, so I want to take advantage by buying the
student version of office. But...am I correct in fearing that this
version will be restricted from upgrading to future versions? I just
don't want to get screwed by Microsoft and I haven't found any
documentation on line that indicates any difference whatsoever between
the standard and student versions aside from pricing and packaging.
But something tells me that I should play it safe and go with the
standard version for the sake of the future. What do you think?

You're correct - the academic edition's functionality is the same as
the standard edition.

I don't have a copy of the MacOffice Student version End User
License Agreement (EULA), but I suspect it's not too different from
the Win Office XP EULA.

In return for the student version's deeply discounted price, you get
a limited-time non-upgradeable, non-transferable license. If you
stop going to school (whether through graduation or otherwise) you
are required to stop using it. How that would be enforced, I have no
idea - MS does not have a verification program now.

Likewise, I don't know how they'd enforce the non-transferrable
clause, other than if you tried to register an already-registered
copy. Since MacOffice does not require activation, as WinOffice
does, I suspect that's not verified either.

The non-upgradeable clause can be easily enforced by restricting
future upgrades from using the student edition product code from
being used with the upgrade.

So if you're just about to graduate or if you want to be able to
upgrade whenever the next version comes out, I'd go with the
standard license.

If you're just starting a long academic program, and if you don't
care about upgrading (there are lots of folks still happily using
Office 98, or even earlier versions, after all), I'd say the
academic pricing is worth the restrictions. Especially if, say, four
years from now you want to upgrade - you should be able to pick up
the Standard edition cheaply and upgrade from there.

 

[Lawrence Krupp]

I'm currently a student, so I want to take advantage by buying the
student version of office. But...am I correct in fearing that this
version will be restricted from upgrading to future versions? I just
don't want to get screwed by Microsoft and I haven't found any
documentation on line that indicates any difference whatsoever between
the standard and student versions aside from pricing and packaging.
But something tells me that I should play it safe and go with the
standard version for the sake of the future. What do you think?

- Nolan

My wife is an educator and we recently purchased the Student/Teacher
edition of Office X for $124.99 on Amazon. It has full functionality. As
for the update issue it might be interesting to note that Office X
upgrades are typically over $200 anyway. Any new version of Office X
will probably have an educational discount that is less than the cost of
a regular upgrade. That doesn't answer the question of what happens when
you are no longer a student though.

The shipped version was 10.1.4. I was able to apply the 10.1.5 update
without any problems. That kind of confirms the teacher/student is the
full version.

 

[Alan Marcelius]

You're correct - the academic edition's functionality is the same as
the standard edition.

I don't have a copy of the MacOffice Student version End User
License Agreement (EULA), but I suspect it's not too different from
the Win Office XP EULA.

In return for the student version's deeply discounted price, you get
a limited-time non-upgradeable, non-transferable license. If you
stop going to school (whether through graduation or otherwise) you
are required to stop using it.

A check I made at the Academic superstore, where I bought my academic
version, confirmed these versions are full versions, and do NOT have
limitations on future upgrades, etc. Unless MS has a new idiotic policy
where they'd piss off every student graduating - to the point the former
students would simply switch to SUN'S Staroffice without missing a beat (at
$75), don't worry about it. All you have to do is enroll in a continuing ed
class in basket weaving to obtain a student ID and still get student rates.
Anyway, so far as I know, the upgrades are the standard rates for all
student versions. Only a few vendors give limited editions to students, but
not M$ so far as I know.

Ta'

Alan

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

A check I made at the Academic superstore, where I bought my academic
version, confirmed these versions are full versions, and do NOT have
limitations on future upgrades, etc. Unless MS has a new idiotic policy
where they'd piss off every student graduating - to the point the former
students would simply switch to SUN'S Staroffice without missing a beat (at
$75), don't worry about it. All you have to do is enroll in a continuing ed
class in basket weaving to obtain a student ID and still get student rates.
Anyway, so far as I know, the upgrades are the standard rates for all
student versions. Only a few vendors give limited editions to students, but
not M$ so far as I know.

Right. The "Student & Teacher" version is not an academic version typically
available through a school's software depot but rather a commercial version
available at bookstores and computer stores. You have to prove you're a
student or teacher, of course. I think it's too soon to know what upgrade
policies will be in effect next time round, but I'd imagine there will be
_some_ upgrade policy for this edition, and from this edition to full
version if you're ineligible for this one next time. As J.E. mentioned, the
price is (relatively) so low compared even to the regular full upgrade price
that it might be worthwhile just to go for another one in the next version.
Up until now, MS has been pretty good about upgrades - for example people
with the very inexpensive "Special Edition" of Word & Entourage 2001 were
able to upgrade to the full Office v. X for the same upgrade price as those
who had the much more expensive full Office 2001 or single application
(Word, Excel PPT 2001). I wouldn't be surprised if something similar
pertained for upgrading to the next full version from S&T X.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP Entourage
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