Why does Exchange Support cost ~$250

[stuarts]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: intel
Email Client: Exchange

I purchased Student and Home not thinking I would need exchange support. But now realize the short coming in Entourage and require the Exchange support.

I asked Microsoft if I could purchase an update version of Standard and was told no. I would have to send my current version in for refund. Wait approx. 25 days for my refund and purchase a full version.

In my book, that is paying $250 just for exchange support in the package.

I wish I could find the receipts for the 3 Office Pros I have for the PC and refund those to cover the cost.

Or better yet, allow me to download the media and use the current PC key.

Can anyone tell my why Exchange is soooo expensive? It used to be free with Exchange Server.

 

[William Smith]

In my book, that is paying $250 just for exchange support in the
package.

I wish I could find the receipts for the 3 Office Pros I have for the
PC and refund those to cover the cost.

Or better yet, allow me to download the media and use the current PC
key.

Can anyone tell my why Exchange is soooo expensive? It used to be
free with Exchange Server.

It's all about licensing.

All businesses, utilities, etc., charge more for professional use of
their products or services.

Not only are you getting Exchange support with the more expensive
version of Office but you're also licensing the product for business
use. Legally, you can't take home a Word or Excel document from work and
modify it for your business using the Home & Student version.

Also, Exchange is considered a business-class product and therefore
Microsoft chose to remove this support from H&S. H&S licensing is for
personal use only and I'd imagine the number of users paying for
non-business use of Exchange Server accounts is very tiny.

Hope this helps!

--

bill

William M. Smith, Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows
Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>

 

[Ed Kimball]

It's all about licensing.

All businesses, utilities, etc., charge more for professional use of
their products or services.

Not only are you getting Exchange support with the more expensive
version of Office but you're also licensing the product for business
use. Legally, you can't take home a Word or Excel document from work and
modify it for your business using the Home & Student version.

Also, Exchange is considered a business-class product and therefore
Microsoft chose to remove this support from H&S. H&S licensing is for
personal use only and I'd imagine the number of users paying for
non-business use of Exchange Server accounts is very tiny.

Hope this helps!

Let's be honest. The real reason it costs so much is that, so far, people
have been willing to pay it.

Personally, I will not get Office 2008 unless or until it includes VBA for
Excel. That's a feature I use often enough that I am unwilling to give it
up. It's essential for compatibility with users of Office for Windows -- and
that compatibility is the main reason I use Office instead of competing apps
like iWork.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Let's be honest. The real reason it costs so much is that, so far, people
have been willing to pay it.

I suspect that the reason is far different.
MS relaesed a home version of Office. If they had provided Exchange
support in it, a lot of companies woudl ahve bought the home version
(much cheaper, multiple serial numbers) insteaf of paying for the full
one.
This looks to me like an attempt to dissuade them from trying that.

Corentin

 

[Ed Kimball]

I suspect that the reason is far different.
MS relaesed a home version of Office. If they had provided Exchange
support in it, a lot of companies woudl ahve bought the home version
(much cheaper, multiple serial numbers) insteaf of paying for the full
one.
This looks to me like an attempt to dissuade them from trying that.

Corentin

Corentin,

You have explained the fact that there's a price difference. The fact that
the price difference is so large (Office with Exchange support costs 2.66
times Office without) is due to the fact that people (or companies, as you
noted) are willing to pay it.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

You have explained the fact that there's a price difference. The fact that
the price difference is so large (Office with Exchange support costs 2.66
times Office without) is due to the fact that people (or companies, as you
noted) are willing to pay it.

Well you don;t only pay just to have Exchange support.
You pay to have a different type of licence.
The Home licence doesn't allow you to use the applications for a
business.

Corentin

 

[Ivar Klaas]

Corentin,

You have explained the fact that there's a price difference. The fact that
the price difference is so large (Office with Exchange support costs 2.66
times Office without) is due to the fact that people (or companies, as you
noted) are willing to pay it.

I am not a MS lover, but look at it the other way around, which is actually
correct:

There was no home edition and people used their office copy illegally at
home (yes, me too). When asked why they said because Office is too
expensive. Would you buy it if there was a home version that was more
reasonably priced? Yes, we would. Well here it a home edition.

In the newest Office versions for Windows, contrary to earlier versions,
there is NO OUTLOOK! You have to use Express. Outlook only comes in one
flavor: Fully loaded (the MS tool is an add-on based on SQL Express) Because
the Entourage people are better coders, they were able to take out exchange
from the Entourage package so home users could use it too. (if not for
exchange, I would use iCal, Mail and Address book...

So, home users got a slightly tuned down pro product for less...

The discussion if Office is too expensive is utterly useless: let your money
talk and do buy what you think is wrong!

OK people, nothing to see here, back to work!

;-)

Ivar