Microsoft Office Versions

[copyright1997reloaded]

I get a free install of MS Office (including Access) as a part of my job (college).

Even with that, I buy the MS office 365 family annual edition ($99 list, but often discounted).

Why? Because while my office 365 (including download and install on 4-5 devices) includes 1 TB Onedrive (my school account), I still value the up to six "Family" members who can each get an additional 1TB of Onedrive.

I the 1 TB Onedrive and the 1 TB Onedrive (school) on my main login to keep the many many work related and personal files - and they are easily available across all of my devices.

For backup (not to be confused with what OneDrive's purpose is), I set up additional Windows users - and give them each one of the other five MS office 365 home accounts. On my system, I use nightly incremental backup (encrypted) to a drive which is then mirrored to their respective Onedrive accounts.

So, I use three of my 6 accounts - one for normal mirroring, and two to mirror encrypted backup datasets.

The only downside is that MS doesn't let a single windows logon have multiple personal onedrives, so I simply have those extra two logins running on the same system (and they do their mirroring at night when I am sleeping and not using the system).

Thus, for under $100 a year I have up to 6 TB of cloud storage which I can use for mirroring and also for backup.

ETA: OH YES, since I can "get by" with 3 TB of cloud, I give family members the extra accounts (so they have office and Onedrive too).

 

[jim584672]

I bought a legit copy of Office 2007 (Word, Excel and Outlook). I use them all every day on my Win10 laptop and desktop. no annual fees and all files reside on the hard drives.

there are two open source MS Office "look alikes"...

https://www.openoffice.org/product/index.html

and

https://www.libreoffice.org

no experience with either.

If you want a look alike knock off WPS Office is it. Made by the Chinese, so if that bothers you skip it.

WPS Office

Our office suite contains four major feature modules: Writer, Spreadsheet, Presentation, and PDF. Easily compatible with 47 file types, including doc, xls, ppt and other text types. Fully applicable to Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS.

https://www.wps.com/download/

 

[statsman]

When Win 10 and MSO 2010 stop working, I'll punt.

That's where I am at. I figure I am on my last version of Windows, so once Win10 Pro is no longer supported with security updates, I'll go fully with Linux and one of the open source office packages.

 

[ERObjd]

Libre office, Open office, ZOHO docs do what MS word does for a lot less. they are free.

 

[Tadpole]

I have 2007, 2010, and 2021 all running on Windows 10 computers. All do fine. I use Word, Excel, Outlook, and OneNote. The data files, so far, have been compatible. I would trade them in on a single subscription if I weren't so nervous that tracks of my personal data would be left on Microsoft's cloud. Also, I think the subscription is tied to single device and not to a single use at a time. I'm not sure of that. But, if so, I would avoid subscription.

 

[donheff]

For backup (not to be confused with what OneDrive's purpose is), I set up additional Windows users - and give them each one of the other five MS office 365 home accounts. On my system, I use nightly incremental backup (encrypted) to a drive which is then mirrored to their respective Onedrive accounts.

So, I use three of my 6 accounts - one for normal mirroring, and two to mirror encrypted backup datasets.

The only downside is that MS doesn't let a single windows logon have multiple personal onedrives, so I simply have those extra two logins running on the same system (and they do their mirroring at night when I am sleeping and not using the system).

Thus, for under $100 a year I have up to 6 TB of cloud storage which I can use for mirroring and also for backup.

ETA: OH YES, since I can "get by" with 3 TB of cloud, I give family members the extra accounts (so they have office and Onedrive too).

I didn’t even realize I could get more space with family accounts. I’m not sure what I would do with ii. I was used to the idea of mirroring drives and nightly backups at work but I am not clear on how it might be useful in my current circumstances. One Drive keeps a cloud copy of everything I seem to need in case my PC fails. What are you mirroring that you couldn’t keep in One Drive? I guess I could see making periodic system images and using another account to store them in One Drive and remove them from the local drive. I assume that is doable although I haven’t created an image in decades so I can’t remember what it involves.

 

[KarenF]

I recently got a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Pro 2021 for $29.99 at the Tech Spot Store.

 

[Montecfo]

I do not use one drive except for it archiving my emails. I try to avoid subscriptions which just tend to rise.

So I like having the cheapo one time license versions I bought for around $90 a few months ago (word, excel, ppt).

I have a sense of adventure when it comes to SW but DW not so much. And I am her tech support.

 

[Montecfo]

I recently got a lifetime license to Microsoft Office Pro 2021 for $29.99 at the Tech Spot Store.

Great tip! Thanks.

 

[statsman]

I have a sense of adventure when it comes to SW but DW not so much. And I am her tech support.

I hear you. I don't know about you, but tech support in our house is expected to be available 365/24/7.

 

[pb4uski]

I hear you. I don't know about you, but tech support in our house is expected to be available 365/24/7.

And free too!

 

[hpnutty]

I have Office 2021 Professional Plus running on 3 separate computers. Purchased the product keys from keysfan.com for about $25 each last fall (it was a sale at the time). Keysfan purchases product keys from companies taken off computers that are no longer in use. Often these are companies that are no longer in business. A heck of a savings over retail!

 

[Montecfo]

^^^Another great tip.

 

[ncbill]

MS Office Pro 2021 lifetime license down to $30 now:

Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License

I have bought for both Windows & Mac (Home & Business) from the above vendor & successfully registered them on my Microsoft account.

 

[38Chevy454]

MS Office Pro 2021 lifetime license down to $30 now:

Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License

I have bought for both Windows & Mac (Home & Business) from the above vendor & successfully registered them on my Microsoft account.

Thanks for this link. I have been using Open Office, but decided to get the Microsoft Office for $30. Ended up $35.00 total with a small handling fee and tax, but still a great deal. It registered to my Microsoft account just fine.

 

[camfused]

FYI, this is the site from which I have gotten licenses for many years, for various family members: https://www.gamers-outlet.net/en/buy-office-2021-professional-plus. 6.50€, where you download/install from the official MS site, enter the key they give you, and register with your own MS account.

That is the Windows version. I have used the Mac version (7.50€) on several of my machines too.

 

[qwerty3656]

I googled the stacksocial deal to see if there were any issues. I didn't dig deeply, but saw the comment below - is it a desktop version of Office or a web-based version?

"Do NOT purchase the MS Key for the discounted Office Pro software (~$50), is a total misleading product sale by StackSocial, READ ALL THE SMALL PRINT, this product is horrible, I suspect they are selling the free web version of the Office Pro package. If it sounds too good to be true, it is! My StackSocial purchase has been a horrible experience and they took me for $50, buyer beware."

 

[ncbill]

I googled the stacksocial deal to see if there were any issues. I didn't dig deeply, but saw the comment below - is it a desktop version of Office or a web-based version?

"Do NOT purchase the MS Key for the discounted Office Pro software (~$50), is a total misleading product sale by StackSocial, READ ALL THE SMALL PRINT, this product is horrible, I suspect they are selling the free web version of the Office Pro package. If it sounds too good to be true, it is! My StackSocial purchase has been a horrible experience and they took me for $50, buyer beware."

Once you log in to your account on microsoft dot com go to the "services & subscription" page to see the "products you've purchased" which has an "install" option for any MS Office version you've purchased right there on the screen.

Mine shows "Office Professional Plus 2021" for Windows, "Office Home & Business 2021" for Macintosh...both via StackSocial.

Along with the text "To activate Office, open an Office app like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and sign in with your account"

Sounds to me whomever wrote the above comment never bothered to purchase & installl.