Woot!

I just thought I'd let anyone know who is interested...

Until April 30, 2008, Microsoft is offering Office 2007 Ultimate (retail value of at least $670) for a total of $59.95 online to current college/university students with a valid university e-mail address at U.S. institutions only.

http://www.theultimatesteal.com/store/msshus/ContentTheme/pbPage.microsoft_office_ultimate

Basically after making the purchase they give you a download link (an existing trial version installed on your PC will also work) and a product key. Physical discs can be ordered for an additional $12. Here is a link to Microsoft explaining the terms of the promotion:

http://www.microsoft.com/education/ultimatesteal.mspx

I did this myself months ago and needless to say it saved me a lot of money and gave me far more Microsoft Office programs than if I had bought the more expensive Student & Home edition.

Hope this helps someone!

I'm still upset that there is no more VBA support in the new versions of Mac Office. I've installed Office on Boot Camp/VMware as well as Excel 2004 to keep the Solver function.

I pirate my software, but will gladly use my .edu address to help anyone who wants this.

I'd be interested Ain.

Office 2007 is awesome. The new interface is a big productivity upgrade, if you learn to use it.

I'm still upset that there is no more VBA support in the new versions of Mac Office. I've installed Office on Boot Camp/VMware as well as Excel 2004 to keep the Solver function.
I haven't messed with that part of it yet, but supposedly VS2008 gives you Office development tools today as good as VBA was a decade ago.

I wet myself when I saw this, but unfortunately it's only for US students.

*sobs*

Sorry about that Halo, I only assumed it was international as well when I saw all the flags at the top right of the main page =/.

Edited original post.

Limeys need not apply?

Apparently not!

Not to condone piracy, but *cough* pirate bay *cough*.

Office is a dinosaur.

Get on board with the Web 2.0 office products if you don't have to do anything majorly complex. They are free and guess what, the file formats don't get changed with each "new" release.

The only things I use office for now is if I have a very complex Excel spreadsheet and Word for my resume. Everything else I use Google docs, etc.

Lets see, pay $500 for the "new" release of office or pay nothing for a free online tool that won't screw you on file formats and backward compatibility.

I'll take option 2 for the majority of my work thanks.

Cheers,

Not good for high school students? bleh :(

Personally, I find Google Docs a huge pain in the ass to use. After getting used to the Office 2007 ribbon, GDocs' interface feels like I'm back in the 80's, using the DOS version of WordPerfect.

As someone that does a lot of web development, I think it's "neat", but there's no possible way I would recommend the online alternatives to your typical Office user.

Maybe the online alternatives will become viable in a few more years, as Silverlight and Flex become more powerful and prevalent.

Maybe the online alternatives will become viable in a few more years, as Silverlight and Flex become more powerful and prevalent.

Agree, the online office products can only get better from their current state. Microsoft has fallen well behind the 8 ball in terms of online applications and services overall, thank you Google!!!.

Their stand-alone office application model is going to come under severe pressure in the years to come, mostly in the pricing arena.

You just can't compete with free.


Cheers,

I think it's a mistake to assume online Office apps will remain free.

They have to be free today or no one would use them. However, if they actually become viable, they'll be licensed like anything else. Just look at apps from companies like 37 Signals and Sales Force.

Thanks Ain, I am enjoying my new Office 2007 Ultimate license.

Free works for the home end user but when talking about a company with over 13,000 users...free = disaster for support. Microsoft will own the buisness world for many years to come.

Meh I just have a technet subscription so I get free liscenses for most of the productivity software and operating systems. Though that is like $300 a year (though your codes don't expire if you don't resubscribe) Oh and as another aside, if you are military you can get most of their software for nothing more than the cost of shipping. Which is like $12 for most items.