Syncing desktop and laptop?

[Bill Thompson]

If I buy MS-Office XP or MS-Office 2003, will I be able to:

1) Run on both my desktop machine and my laptop without
purchasing another copy of the software?

2) Sync between the desktop and laptop without purchasing server
software? Syncing would include moving an email to a folder on
one machine, and when I sync, the message moves on the other
machine.

I've been getting conflicting or non-definitive answers to these
questions from various places, and haven't found anything about
them on Microsoft's site. I'd sure like to know, because if I
buy and I'm wrong, I'm out $400!

Thanks for any help!

Bill Thompson


P.S. I read in another thread on this newsgroup that the one
license entitles you to run on both your desktop and laptop as
long as you don't use both at once. Does "use" mean "run", as
in if I run Outlook on both machines at once, like when
sync'ing, it contacts Microsoft over the Internet and disables
both of them?

 

[Mike Williams [MVP]]

If I buy MS-Office XP or MS-Office 2003, will I be able to:

1) Run on both my desktop machine and my laptop without
purchasing another copy of the software?

Retail licenses for both Office XP and 2003 allow this. See for instance the
Office 2003 FAQ at
http://www.microsoft.com/office/editions/prodinfo/faq.mspx

2) Sync between the desktop and laptop without purchasing server
software? Syncing would include moving an email to a folder on
one machine, and when I sync, the message moves on the other
machine.

This is a Windows issue in part. For Outlook, see
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/sync.htm

I've been getting conflicting or non-definitive answers to these
questions from various places, and haven't found anything about
them on Microsoft's site. I'd sure like to know, because if I
buy and I'm wrong, I'm out $400!

Thanks for any help!

Bill Thompson


P.S. I read in another thread on this newsgroup that the one
license entitles you to run on both your desktop and laptop as
long as you don't use both at once. Does "use" mean "run", as
in if I run Outlook on both machines at once, like when
sync'ing, it contacts Microsoft over the Internet and disables
both of them?

--

Mike Williams - Office MVP
http://www.mvps.org/

Please respond in the same thread on this newsgroup. Make sure you
include details of your application and Windows versions, plus any
service pack updates.

Do not mail to me directly without invitation - you have a choice of
getting ignored or billed for my time. Most questions can be answered
by reading recent NG posts, checking the MVPS web FAQs or searching the
relevant Google archive e.g.
http://groups.google.com/groups?group=microsoft.public.word.spelling.grammar

 

[Bill Thompson]

Retail licenses for both Office XP and 2003 allow this. See for instance the
Office 2003 FAQ at
http://www.microsoft.com/office/editions/prodinfo/faq.mspx

Thanks! This definitively answers my question! Yes!

This is a Windows issue in part. For Outlook, see
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/sync.htm

Is this a "no"? There seem to be a *lot* of techniques and
tools on that page, none offered by Microsoft, and none that are
stated to work with MS-Office XP or MS-Office 2003.

It seems amazing to me that even at this late date, Microsoft
would not have implemented sync'ing between desktop and laptop
in Outlook. (Or have they? I'm still not sure.) I talked to
someone at Fry's Electronics who insisted that they do have that
feature, but it came out that she had simply assumed it because
they allow you to install on both machines with one license and
it would be absurd if you couldn't sync.

I've been playing with a friend's version of Office XP the last
few days, and I still haven't found anything. They give
instructions for sync'ing via MS-Exchange Server, but it seems
excessive to buy MS-Exchange Server and set it up just to sync
email and calendar between desktop and laptop.

Does Microsoft provide a way to sync your email and calendar
between desktop and laptop, so if you move an email to a folder
on one machine, then when you sync the same email gets moved on
the other machine?


BTW, you said, "This is a Windows issue in part"? Can you
explain what you meant by that, I didn't understand it.


Thanks,

Bill Thompson

 

[Mike Williams [MVP]]

Is this a "no"? There seem to be a *lot* of techniques and
tools on that page, none offered by Microsoft, and none that are
stated to work with MS-Office XP or MS-Office 2003.

The top paragraph listing "Built-in methods"are all Microsoft techniques.

It seems amazing to me that even at this late date, Microsoft
would not have implemented sync'ing between desktop and laptop
in Outlook. (Or have they? I'm still not sure.)

I talked to
someone at Fry's Electronics who insisted that they do have that
feature, but it came out that she had simply assumed it because
they allow you to install on both machines with one license and
it would be absurd if you couldn't sync.

Do NOT listen to anyone in a retail store talking about Office. I've seen so
many clueless statements reported here. They will say ANYTHING to make a
sale.

BTW, you said, "This is a Windows issue in part"? Can you
explain what you meant by that, I didn't understand it.

Offline folders is the Windows mechanism provided for synching files between
two PCs. You can do the same thing with PSTs although it is not ideal.
Again, from that link:
Windows 2000 (and later) offer a feature for taking files offline, but by
default, it excludes Personal Folders .pst files. However, you can edit the
system policy that controls the file types so that .pst files can be
included. See Error Message Files of This Type Cannot Be Made Available
Offline.

 

[Bill Thompson]

Offline folders is the Windows mechanism provided for synching files between
two PCs. You can do the same thing with PSTs although it is not ideal.
Again, from that link:
Windows 2000 (and later) offer a feature for taking files offline, but by
default, it excludes Personal Folders .pst files. However, you can edit the
system policy that controls the file types so that .pst files can be
included. See Error Message Files of This Type Cannot Be Made Available
Offline.

Ah, thanks, now I understand. I experimented with this approach
last night, plus one of the programs mentioned on
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/sync.htm, and will post my
experiences in another message. I didn't even know about Offline
folders, and it looks like a useful feature for much more than
sync'ing Outlook!

Does anyone else sync Outlook between desktop and laptop? It's
a *lot* of work to go through the great many options and find
one that works.

(where "works" = letting me use email, calendar, and contacts on
both machines as if they were one machine: when I move an email from
one folder to another on one machine, it moves on the other machine,
etc.)


Thanks,

Bill Thompson