Skip to content

Office 2010 'free upgrade' revealed

At last, after various strategic leaks, the Office 2010 Technology Guarantee is fully unveiled.

Microsoft has announced the details of the Office 2010 Technology Guarantee after leaking parts of it over the last month or so.

The Technology Guarantee has been around for a long time – it means that if you buy Office close to the release of a new version you’ll be able to get the new version for little or no extra cost. In this case buyers of Office 2007 will be able to get an equivalent Office 2010.

Microsoft does this mostly to keep sales of Office going, without the Technology Guarantee retail and PC sales would plummet in the months coming up to the release of new software. The drop in cash flow is something that Microsoft wants to avoid and many of its partners can’t afford at all.

The Technology Guarantee can get complicated because Office 2010 has different retail bundles than Office 2007. That means some applications are added or dropped during the switch to Office 2010.

Here are the basics you need to know about the Technology Guarantee, we’ll look at the details in later articles:

Any new purchase of Office 2007, retail or with a new PC



  • INcludes version upgrades, Academic editions and the Military Appreciation Edition

  • EXcludes volume licence, home use, promotional or ‘not-for-resale’ copies.


    • Second-hand copies don’t qualify.

    • Copies sold through ebay are specifically EXcluded.

Purchased after 5 March 2010

Purchased before 30 September 2010

You should keep your receipt, preferably itemized showing the Office 2007 purchase.

Must install and activate the Office 2007 software



  • You need the Product ID supplied during activation

Must claim your Office 2010 software before 31 October 2010

 

Microsoft has all the Technology Guarantee details here.

About this author