Buying Microsoft Office

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Having upgraded my laptop to an M2 Mac l need to get the current version of Microsoft Office mainly because all my financial and similar stuff is on Excel spreadsheets going back at least 2 decades. Word gets used perhaps half a dozen time a year.

According to Mrs Google the Office for Mac can be gotten online for between £25 (ish) and £140 (ish) with the official MS price £119. They all appear to be a download and registration key so what's with the huge price discrepancy. Obviously with my limited use £25 is a lot more attractive than £120 odd but are these offers legitimate and will MS actually accept the key?

Asking Google comes up with suggestions that these are business over-purchases being sold off. Which seems off as Home and Student is regularly found and it hardly seems logical that over purchase on bulk orders would be enough to support the potential market. It's suggested that some suppliers make you jump through hoops (data harvesting?) to register things and that the key is OEM so ihe program is locked to one computer and can't be moved.

E-Bay has several suppliers of new, shrink wrapped, retail packages at around £60 to £70 which looks a safer bet as the key shouldn't have been previously registered.

All very confusing for the tight fisted!

Clive

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

A legit seller of keys should have 100% feedback

[Kiwi BlokeParticipant @kiwibloke62605]

I have no idea why anyone should consider buying MS Office – at any price. Libre Office is open-source software, that can be downloaded for free. It comprises an entire office suite, which does all that Microsuck's expensive product does, and has an attractive and intuitive interface that can be customised to suit preferences. It reads and writes MS-compatible files (even the ghastly .docx ones, that MS introduced to try to keep folk using their products), so reading and editing all your existing files is no problem – with the possible exception of a couple of proprietary fonts. However, substitute fonts can be downloaded, again at no cost, and full compatibility is assured.

'Fraid I can't tell you how to install it into Windoze, because I haven't used MS software for >20 years, but I'm sure others will be along to reassure you that it all goes as painlessly as a Windoze install can/can't be…

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Posted by Clive Foster on 13/09/2023 22:35:26:

Having upgraded my laptop to an M2 Mac l need to get the current version of Microsoft Office mainly because all my financial and similar stuff is on Excel spreadsheets going back at least 2 decades.

[…]

.

Have you tried opening any of your old spreadsheets using Apple’s Numbers App ?

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/numbers

Unless you have used some particularly complex Excel stuff, you might be pleasantly surprised.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 14/09/2023 05:49:26

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

[ Addendum ]

If your spreadsheets do rely on the clever manipulation of dates … you will need to do your homework:

Over the decades there have been some ‘interesting’ differences between, and within, the two product lines

For a flavour of this; start with this Google search :

date format compatibility apple vs microsoft

MichaelG.

[James AlfordParticipant @jamesalford67616]

Alternatively, set up a free Outlook e-mail account which comes with a version of Excel, Word, PowerPoint and some other programmes. They do not offer all of the features of the paid-for versions, but they are perfectly adequate for most things.

James.

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Since your lap top is new, you won't have the problem that we had when Talk Talk (alias BT ), without warning, withdrew support for Outlook on W7, leaving us without E mail.

Must have happened to lots of people, since it took three weeks to have the problem solved by going for a different E mail system.

Thankfully, the "fixer" managed to change over all E mails and address books.

Such is the price of what some regard as progress!

Howard

[simondavies3Participant @simondavies3]

Clive,

I have 5 'grey' versions of Office and at least 3 of Win10. All purchased as described through eBay or our local version over here. All bar one have been without a problem. Occassionally I have been obliged to jump through a couple of additional hoops by calling a MS call centre (making a change from "MS" calling me )and confirming the package number or similar. When I buy, I go for the people who have shipped hundreds of similar ones which are not the rock bottom price.

All still work, get updates, are seen as legit by MS and are on both Windows PCs as well as on a selection of Macs. They can't be moved from machine to machine….but how frequently do you actually do that?

if you PM me, I will share the sources of the last couple I bought.

Simon

[David JuppParticipant @davidjupp51506]

To answer the question asked, I've purchased MS Office (and indeed Windows) keys for a price much lower than the MS list price. The keys activated without any problem.

Being somewhat sceptical myself, I purchased through Amazon Marketplace thinking that at least I had somewhere to go back and complain if there was any issue. I also checked the feedback for the seller beforehand as has already been suggested.

I'm sure there are 'dodgy' sellers around still, so I deliberately did not search exhaustively around the internet for the absolute lowest price. And at the 'sensible' prices Office is now available for, there isn't much incentive to spend hours searching to perhaps save an extra pound or two.

There are many slightly different versions of Office available, so check exactly which products are included with any particular option/price.

As you say – also be clear on if the key is OEM or 'standard'.  If seller doesn't answer questions, don't buy.

 

Edited By David Jupp on 14/09/2023 08:56:45

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download-libreoffice/

**LINK**

Very easy to install just like any other app.

[HowiParticipant @howi]

Posted by Howard Lewis on 14/09/2023 07:58:31:

Since your lap top is new, you won't have the problem that we had when Talk Talk (alias BT ), without warning, withdrew support for Outlook on W7, leaving us without E mail.

Must have happened to lots of people, since it took three weeks to have the problem solved by going for a different E mail system.

Thankfully, the "fixer" managed to change over all E mails and address books.

Such is the price of what some regard as progress!

Howard

TalkTalk, is noithing to do with BT, never has been.

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Thanks for the re-assurance that this "grey" software market is actually pretty much legitimate.

On reflection I suppose it's a tacit way of sweeping up customers who, in years gone by, would pay upgrade prices rather than full package prices. Which always seemed a fair way to go about things when folk don't really need whatever the upgrade brings. Like me. All I want is to run the same, relatively simple things, on an a new computer. For me any Office upgrade benefits fell off around Word 5 era.

Agree with David that it's not worth hunting to save a pound or two. My usual rule for everything from insurance onwards is that hunting, and switching, needs to save £50 or more to be worth the effort.

Libre Office is interesting. I did take a look at the last computer upgrade to my workshop computer over 10 years ago but something fairly minor didn't go right so decided I didn't want to risk compatibility issues between the workshop computer and the laptop, house, computer. Could well have been a fat finger issue but sometimes life is too short.

I use the workshop computer, one of the old Mac Pros with a big screen and 4 drives inside, for most serious work anyway as it's much easier on the big screen. That one is locked to High Sierra so I can run my CAD program. VectorWorks, ex-Mini-CAD, which not only hasn't had the mechanical drawing package updated for years but also has gone to subscription only at £1,000 a year. Which isn't happening. Lord knows how I'll cope when that one dies with maybe 1,000 drawings on file!. Parallels desktop maybe.

Being paranoid I like the security of two synced computers on independent back up schedules for all the important stuff.

Thanks for the comments.

Clive

[OldironParticipant @oldiron]

Posted by John Haine on 14/09/2023 08:55:56:

https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download-libreoffice/

**LINK**

Very easy to install just like any other app.

I gree 100%. Easy peasy as does everything that I will ever need. Reads all my old spread sheets from many year ago.

regards

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Posted by John Haine on 14/09/2023 08:55:56:

https://www.libreoffice.org/download/download-libreoffice/

**LINK**

Very easy to install just like any other app.

+1 👍

[Kiwi BlokeParticipant @kiwibloke62605]

Clive, apologies, I overlooked the fact that your question is about an Appall device. Even though that company wants to trap you in Planet Appall, Libre Office has a Mac version – as others have said. Have a go – it's free!

[File HandleParticipant @filehandle]

Another Libre office user. Its database is limited, but WP and spreadsheet are fine.

[Adam MaraParticipant @adammara]

Excel 2000 runs happily on my new Windows 11 computer. still got the disc, gained from work when they upgraded!

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Howi

F Y I

BT own EE, Talk Talk and Plus Net.

Just the packages on offer and prices that differ.

Strange that so many had problems after BT introduced an "upgrade"

Howard

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Slightly bewildered, Clive, that you have [apparently] not even considered using Numbers

… it comes free with your Mac, and is well-supported.

MichaelG.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

I have Office 2003 pro but as I mainly run linux I use what Kiwi suggested Libre Office, with Libre Office you can if you wish choose one of it's 'layout's' that have the look and feel of MS Office. A couple of my friends use Office but they pay a monthly rental rather than buy it they always have the up to date version.

H

Edited By Harry Wilkes on 14/09/2023 18:15:27

[Mark RandParticipant @markrand96270]

I've even used Libreoffice Draw to open (microsoft) Visio files. It does as good a job as the current version of Visio i.e. less than perfect for either .

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Michael G.

I tried Numbers after making the Motorola to Intel Mac jump. It didn't like a couple of my financial prediction spreadsheets and I couldn't face rejigging things to get round the errors on both the current and historical versions of the data. Over a decade later conversion is a still more daunting prospect.

Just checked with the latest version of Numbers that came with the laptop and there are still some format issues although at least the maths is OK. Syncing with the workshop computer will still be a pain as that is locked to High Sierra and the version of numbers that came with that has math issues with one of my spreadsheets.

Something to consider when the workshop computer gets replaced methinks.

Clive

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks for the clarification, Clive

MichaelG.

[David George 1Participant @davidgeorge1]

Have you looked at office 2021. I dont know if it runns on Mac but on my windows PC its a one of payment for the office suite.

David

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