Standard vs. Student/Teacher

[drgooply]

If I install the Student/Teacher version of Office 2004 on my Intel Mac
and Laptop (two installs), will I be able to update as new fixes come
out? (I don't believe I'll be able to upgrade when a whole new Office
program comes out, but that won't be for a few years, is that correct?)
Other than limiting to three installs, what are the other differences
between Standard and Student/Techer editions? And if you should need
to uninstall and re-install for some reason, does that count against
your three installs?
Thank you.

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi,

the S&T version may not be eligible for an upgrade to Office 12, but yes,
you can most certainly download the latest updates for Office 2004. As for
Office 12 itself, it's not going to be "a few years", but roughly one year,
but that's still too far away to justify skipping Office 2004 and waiting
for the new version instead.

There are a couple of differences between the Standard and the S&T editions:
Standard is eligible for upgrades, S&T normally isn't. Standard is twice the
price of S&T, but only comes with one license. Everyone can buy Standard;
you can only legally buy S&T if you are a student or a teacher, or the
family member of a student. Also, you cannot use the S&T edition for
commercial purposes. Last and least, I think the S&T box looks much nicer
than the Standard edition's. ;-)

If you have to uninstall and reinstall Office 2004 at some point, you will
*not* lose your installs. Unlike its Windows counterpart, Mac Office does
not need to be activated through Microsoft's servers. The three installs are
valid at any given moment, i.e. if you reinstall Office and use the same
registration key you've used before on that same machine, you will not
encounter any problems whatsoever. At least none relating to Microsoft's
licensing policies.

If I install the Student/Teacher version of Office 2004 on my Intel Mac
and Laptop (two installs), will I be able to update as new fixes come
out? (I don't believe I'll be able to upgrade when a whole new Office
program comes out, but that won't be for a few years, is that correct?)
Other than limiting to three installs, what are the other differences
between Standard and Student/Techer editions? And if you should need
to uninstall and re-install for some reason, does that count against
your three installs?
Thank you.

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

 

[drgooply]

If I purchase the full price Standard Edition of Office 2004, will that
be eligible for an upgrade to the next version of Office? I just read
that Office 2007 will be coming out in January. Is that what you mean
by Office 12? Will that be available for Mac? I don't want to spring
for an Office in November that will be upgraded just a few months from
now, unless it is upgradable to the next version.
THanks for your help.
DrG

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi,

yes, the Standard edition should be eligible for an upgrade; however, the
Upgrade edition is not free, and it's actually more expensive than a regular
S&T edition ($239 for the Upgrade version vs. $149 for the S&T edition).
Office 2007 will be released in January, but that version's for Windows
only; the Mac version should come out later that year, and since Mac
versions are usually released somewhere between 6 months and a year after
the Windows version has been released, you will have to ask yourself if you
can afford to wait that long. Note also that these are just guesses, since
Microsoft has not yet published an official release date for Office 12 for
Mac.

So if you are eligible for the S&T edition right now, and if you are still
going to be eligible for the S&T version in about a year's time, you should
go for the S&T version in both cases (that is, if you really want to upgrade
to Office 12; it's not compulsory, Office 2004 will keep working just fine
after the release of Office 12 and it will still be supported for quite some
time). And even if you're not going to be eligible for the S&T edition by
the time Office 12 is getting released, it should still be cheaper to buy
the S&T now and buy Office 12's Standard edition later on ($149 + $399(?)
for S&T and Standard vs. $399 + $239(?) for Standard and Upgrade). Note also
that there is currently no pricing for Office 12, so these guesses are based
on the assumption the pricing remains the same.

God, what a long and complicated paragraph! I hope you can make sense of it.

If I purchase the full price Standard Edition of Office 2004, will that
be eligible for an upgrade to the next version of Office? I just read
that Office 2007 will be coming out in January. Is that what you mean
by Office 12? Will that be available for Mac? I don't want to spring
for an Office in November that will be upgraded just a few months from
now, unless it is upgradable to the next version.
THanks for your help.
DrG

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***