"The Ultimate Steal"-Microsoft Office 2007 Student for $59.95

This deal is back? Amazing! I almost want to buy it a second time it is so good.

 

Thread moved to Windows OS and Software.

 

Can you put this one on 3 computers though like the student edition?

 

Wow... awesome price!

Do you know if the license key works for 3 computers in this case?

 

well i have downloaded this file twice, once through firefox, and once through ie, and both times i receive an "installation package failed" error after extracting.
anyone have a solution to this, or experiencing something similar?

 

***...i bought the regular home & student edition 2007 from dell for $84.99..is there any way microsoft can compensate me ?

 

Might have to have one of my college friends buy this for me...then again OpenOffice has been treating me just fine.

 

When you get used to it, it's far more efficient to use than Office 2003. Most of what you need can be maneuvered through the tab over your "workspace". I wrote and cited my term papers on in last semester, and it definitely helped me save time and effort.

No I'm not a rep, just a satisfied customer

Now Vista is a whole other issue when it comes to MS

 

I've been waiting for this for a while, and I bought it as soon as it was available. Yay for student discounts!

 

I agree, once you get used to it, Office 2007 is much better than 2003.

 

This has already been posted: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=279001

And the above thread was moved from the Windows forum to the Tech Deals forum. I think, however, it belongs in the Windows forum because the Windows forum is much more heavily trafficked.

 

I think this thread belongs in the Windows forum, not the Tech Deals forum because nobody is going to find it here and it directly relates to a Windows product.

 

I had thought the same and I had initially posted it in Windows OS forum and someone moved it to where it is now...

And in fact, now there are like 4 or 5 threads on this ultimate steal in Windows OS and they all seem to be happy there

 

The threads have been merged. Please report any other threads dealing with the "ultimate steal" so that they can be merged.

 

Ooppss... Oh yeah Thanks Kdawgca

 

Ok. Thanks Kdawgca.

 

I ask...

I bought Office 2007 home & student edition from dell.com for $84.99 like 3 weeks ago, can I be compensated by Microsoft (I am a student)........

 

bump....anyone advise me?

 

Compensated by M$, for you buying before the offer started? or for what exactly?

But whatever you are hinting at, I guess the answer would be a NO. Its not their fault / problem or whatever, IMO

 

My school gives office enterprise for free.

 

It follows that companies that court you from young, will keep you for life. That seems true. If you are raised and carry out all your academic work using the office suite, it would seem that employers would find it easier to let employees work on a suite of software they are familiar with. Thus MS earns a lot more in the future.

I remember on the first induction day at university, this offer was introduced by the librarian. Whilst it's a good deal, an rep on a visiting day a few months earlier told us students that office and indeed Vista would be downloadable for free from the university...that didn't happen...

 

This deal is up on the UK site now which is good it is selling for £38.95 you can download it and pay this price or you can order the back up media for an extra £8.95. Total price is £47.90 with the backup media.

I selected to order the back up media with my order.
http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-uk/default.aspx

Is it ok to say if owned both to put this on a laptop and desktop with the same product key?

 

Yes, the license allows you to use it on one desktop n one laptop.. there was some details from a user who got this last year (should be in page 3 of 4 in this thread). Chk it out.

 

For those interested, here is an exchange I recently (about 6 or so months back) had with MS on the Ultimate Steal offer. Maybe it will help somebody.

ORIGINAL STATEMENT OF PROBLEM BY ME VIA EMAIL TO MICROSOFT

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

Message: I am a registered student at XXXXX University, XXX through whom I got to know about the Office 2007 Ultimate Offer for students, which I downloaded and have happily used. Recently, I have run into a problem. My original laptop on which I had installed Office 2007 died on me - motherboard problems and HDD issues. I bought a new laptop with XP Pro and installed Office 2007 again. Everything worked OK. I am now thinking of upgrading to either Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate. The EULA of Office 2007 suggests (if I understand correctly) that I can install Office 2007 Ultimate in two machines, which is appropriate in my case, but in actual fact, I will be installing Office 2007 three time on two machines - first time on the machine that died and two times on the new machine - first when the OS was XP Pro and now again if I do install Vista. Is this allowed as per the EULA? Please clarify as I am not eager to break any rules etc. Please also note that I remain a current student in good standing at XXXXX University.
Please advise at your earliest convenience. Thanks.

FIRST RESPONSE FROM MS:

Hello,
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Customer Service. Thank you for your time and patience with us. Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 can be installed on a desktop and a Laptop. This means, you can install it on your Laptop. However, as this would be your third time installing Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, you will have to purchase additional license. As Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 is supported on Windows Vista, you can install it on your Laptop. For further assistance or for purchasing additional license, you will be best assisted by the Microsoft subsidiary that specializes in your version of Microsoft products. You can reach them at Phone: (011) (44)0870 60 10 100 or by visiting: http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/phone/contact.aspx?country=United Kingdom . I hope the above information is helpful and appreciate your patience. If you have additional questions regarding Microsoft products and services, please feel free to write back to us.
Thank you,
XXXXX (name of CSR removed)
Microsoft Customer Service Representative.

MY REPLY:

ok. Thanks. So this means that if my machine crashes three times and if i have to reformat my hard drive three times, i cannot reinstall Office 2007 Ultimate. In my case since i want to do a clean install of vista, i will also have to reformat my drive. So, i guess MS loses a sale of vista - i would hv opted for Vista Ultimate! Oh well..your loss not mine. But thanks for your response. Best regards, (MY NAME – REMOVED)

THEN THEY GOT BACK TO ME AGAIN WITH THIS

Hello,
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Customer Service. Thank you for your time and patience with us. Office Ultimate Edition 2007 can be installed on two computers. The combinations are:
1) One desktop and one laptop and
2) Two laptops

But not on two desktops.

Office Ultimate Edition 2007 licenses allow for software to be re-installed and activated on the same computers an unlimited number of times. To ensure that you are using your license properly, please see your end user license agreement or product use rights for details on a specific product. For further assistance on licensing, you will be best assisted by the Microsoft subsidiary that specializes in your version of Microsoft products. You can reach them at Phone: (011) (44)0870 60 10 100 or by visiting: http://www.microsoft.com/worldwide/phone/contact.aspx?country=United Kingdom. I hope the above information is helpful and appreciate your patience. If you have additional questions regarding Microsoft products and services, please feel free to write back to us.
Thank you.
(NAME OF CSR DELETED) Microsoft Customer Service Representative

THEN I ASKED FOR A FURTHER CLARIFICATION:

Hello:
Just one clarification based on your email below (in this post my question refers to the email above - coz' of the cut'n past job that I did here!) is necessary. Do the conditions as mentioned by you also apply to the Office 2007 Ultimate Edition which was/ is available for a discount as a download for students in selected countries? The link to this offer is http://www.theultimatesteal.com/ Please note that this is the version of Office 2007 Ultimate that I have been referring to and not to the retail version. Please advise. Thanks. (MY NAME DELETED)

THEIR RESPONSE:

Hello (ADDRESSED TO ME – DELETED),
Thank you for contacting Microsoft Customer Service. I appreciate you for taking time to write back to us. I understand that you would like to know if the licensing terms for Office Ultimate 2007 Edition and Office Ultimate Steal will be the same. I would like to let you know that Office Ultimate 2007 Edition and Office Ultimate Steal is one and the same Office, and the licensing terms are the same for both of them. The only difference is that Microsoft launched a special Web-based promotion exclusively for students called “The Ultimate Steal”. Students who are actively enrolled at eligible educational institutions will be able to acquire Office Ultimate 2007 via the Web at the low student price of US$59.95. This promotion is subject to the following terms and conditions and all participants acknowledge and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. For further information, please visit the following web site: http://www.microsoft.com/education/ultimatesteal.mspx
I hope the above information is helpful.
Thank you,
(NAME OF CSR DELETED)
Microsoft Customer Service Representative
If you have any feedback about your Online Customer Service experience, please send it to my manager, (NAME DELETED) at http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6998852 Please do not forget to indicate the name of my manager in the subject field.

Hope this helps.

Cheers!

 

It's amazing how something so simple can get some people so twisted up in knots.

The EULA itself is pretty straightforward, once you find it. The Ultimatesteal version is Office Ultimate, and it carries the same license as the standard retail version of Office Ultimate (both products are labelled "FPP" - Fully Packaged Product).

Under the terms of the license the primary user can install a copy of the software on one computer and, if s/he so chooses, may install another copy of the software under the same license on a portable system used by that same primary user.

Once the software is copied onto a computer, integrated into its OS/registry (i.e., configured for that particular system), and validated via microsoft's website, that copy of the software is thenceforth associated with the particular physical system onto which it's been copied and integrated and, most importantly, that is what is considered "installed" for purposes of the license.

Any additional copying/configuring of the software onto the same physical machine, using the same license key, does not constitute a second, or further, "installation" for purposes of the license, because the machine with which that copy of the software and license key are associated haven't changed.

So, once you've associated a copy of Office Ultimate with a particular license key and a particular physical system, you've "installed" it on that physical system, and no amount of re-installation will count as a second, or third, or ... "installation" - for purposes of the license, those are all considered one "installation."

This is why, once you've replaced a certain number of a computer's core components, you will sometimes get a problem where _Windows, or some other MS software, will say that it cannot be validated and that you have to call MS. What happened in reality is that, because the validation system derives a set of numbers from the various core components, and allows for a certain amount of variation in those core components before the system counts as a "new" system, once you go over that threshhold, the validation system decides that it's no longer a matter of the same software still associated with the same machine with a few component changes, but that the user is now attempting, for the first time, to associate the software/license key with a totally different, new system, that just happens to have a few components in common with the old system.

Typically, when that happens, if you call up the MS number you're given and explain what happened, the validation warehouse will permit the software to be re-associated with the system by computing a new reference number from the system's core components, and after that, you're good to go.

That make it any easier to understand?

 

Shyster...

Actually, it MAY NOT be that simple...thus, the reply that I initially got from MS...

"...Hello,Thank you for contacting Microsoft Customer Service. Thank you for your time and patience with us. Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 can be installed on a desktop and a Laptop. This means, you can install it on your Laptop. However, as this would be your third time installing Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, you will have to purchase additional license. As Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 is supported on Windows Vista, you can install it on your Laptop. For further assistance or for purchasing additional license, you will be best assisted by the Microsoft subsidiary that specializes in your version of Microsoft products...."

Of course, what you say is perfectly true. I believe there are 8 components that are tagged in the manner in which you have described. Nevertheless, it is somewhat astonishing that even a bonafide MS CSR would get all tangled up as the above-posted exchange shows.

 

Microsoft will also send you the disk in addition to downloading on-line. The problem is it takes a long time to do so.

 

I dont know if this has been posted already, but as of now, Microsoft plans to run this offer until 2010 (but they "Reserve the right to end it early").

 

Unfortunately, I've been through the customer service merry-go-round enough times now that nothing would surprise me - I wouldn't bat an eye if an MS customer service rep didn't realize s/he was working for Microsoft.

 

Shyster:

Well said...I shouldn't find it funny...but...

 

Yah, I know, it's a sad, sad, sad world we live in. On a slightly less jaded note, however, if you can get past the customer "service" flaks, you'll sometimes find someone who actually knows what they're talking about, even at Microsoft (equally shocking, I know). Just recently I exchanged emails with an MS tech trying to figure out why my system wasn't taking updates, and the tech's first suggested remedy worked like a charm.

I've also spoken with a tech support guy from Netgear who really, really knew his way around the Netgear wireless print server I was trying to get set up - he got real kudos in my book.

Of course, there's always _Sony <sigh>; last year the hdd on my 2003 model VAIO Z1A1 chewed itself up (really, I dogged that thing to the point where I was doing 5 or 6 hard restarts just to get a boot to take, until, after about 3 months, it just wouldn't go anymore). The _Sony website states, flatly, that the hdd in this model "cannot be upgraded" (of course, for a fat little fee, you can send it in and they'll magically teleport a new replacement into it ). The first tech support 'bot I talked to just kept feeding me the party line, over and over again, no matter how creative my questioning. That p**sed me off enough that I actually bought a copy of the service manual from one of these online manual sites, and dismantled about 2/3 of the computer in order to replace the hdd - which I did, finally. So, after that, I called _Sony tech support up again, just for funsies, and after the tech support 'bot started running the party line, I told him, flat out, that he was lying, and then gave him step by step instructions, from memory, about how to do it. His response? Well, sir, then I'm afraid you've voided your warranty. At that point I gently reminded him that, as I had specifically stated at the beginning of the conversation, I was at least 3 years outside the warranty in the first place, so if I'd really voided my warranty status as he said, did that mean that I now had warranty coverage? After all, the negation of a negative is positive, so.... Unfortunately, I think they've all had their sense of humor trained out of them.

 

Hey there dear mates, a quick question.. *asking this because I haven't used the language packs before / neither am I familiar with it. Been fortunate to always work with English UI*

I am getting the Office Ultimate thing from here in Italy.. Offer started today (its only the Italian version.. wt..) and the language packs are available only from October 23.. So I was thinking of getting the single language pack (english) alone... costs ~ 30 euros.. anyway..

What I want to know is about fixing/switching the language... Is it as easy as the demo video in M$ Office website shows? Like you open the office tool and then insert language or something? Also they were clicking on an icon like "A" or something in the lower left taskbar to switch/fix languages, in a pop up window.. and also the demo video said, that the language stays that way till we change it again...

So Is it just this and as easy as they showed or are there anything else to do? or are there any situations where things go crazy or something like that?

Many thanks in advance..