Upgrade to 2008 with a license for 2004

[jeremiah.smith]

I realize that on the macoffice2008 site it says you can upgrade your
office 2004 boxed version to 2008 more or less free, but what if i
have a license that i bought through my university? i bought it
because i was misled to think that you could upgrade from office 2004,
but when i went to download the coupon it stipulated that it must be
the boxed version...

Jeremiah Smith.

 

[Diane Ross]

I realize that on the macoffice2008 site it says you can upgrade your
office 2004 boxed version to 2008 more or less free, but what if i
have a license that i bought through my university? i bought it
because i was misled to think that you could upgrade from office 2004,
but when i went to download the coupon it stipulated that it must be
the boxed version...

Jeremiah Smith.

I'll forward this to a contact at Microsoft and see if we can get someone on
the list with real answers to answer.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Jeremiah:

That depends upon whether you paid full retail price for it or not

Software licensing is a minefield. The only "source of truth" is the fine
print in your licence, read in conjunction with the fine print on the
Microsoft website. Here's my understanding of the situation:

If you paid retail price at the University book shop, then yes, you have an
FPP (Full Packaged Product) version and you are good to go.

If you bought a "Student and Teacher" version of the product, then no. The
academic versions are sold at a huge discount on the understanding that they
do not qualify you for any upgrades, or the deals that may spring up in
conjunction with them.

If, on the other hand, the version you have was "supplied" by the
University, then YOU do not actually own the licence at all, the University
does. Thus you cannot upgrade it, but they can. However, if the University
still subscribes to their volume-licence, then it can "supply" you with the
next version under the same terms as it gave you this one.

Hope that helps ‹ it will be a while before we get a more authoritative
answer from Microsoft.

Cheers

I realize that on the macoffice2008 site it says you can upgrade your
office 2004 boxed version to 2008 more or less free, but what if i
have a license that i bought through my university? i bought it
because i was misled to think that you could upgrade from office 2004,
but when i went to download the coupon it stipulated that it must be
the boxed version...

Jeremiah Smith.

--
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John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Nhulunbuy, Northern Territory, Australia
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Note that there are two types of Student/Teacher editions.

There is the retail Student and Teacher box, decorated all
schoolhouse-like with lined paper and an apple, or something.

There are special volume licenses sold only through universities, that
are usually just a CD in a case, not a shiny retail box.

Many university computer stores may sell both types, just to confuse the
issue more.

The first will qualify for the deals, the second will not. I doubt MS is
going to say anything different, myself, even after Diane checks. The
small print says you need the box top to get the deal.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

This comment and the official response following it may be applicable to
Jeremiah's question, depending on what he bought:
http://blogs.msdn.com/macmojo/archive/2007/11/21/office-2008-for-mac-bfd.aspx#6487902