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Time running out for 'free' Office 2010

Only a month to go for the Office 2010 ‘free’ updates.

The usual ‘Technology Guarantee’ for Office 2010, where recent purchasers of Office 2007 get a free upgrade, is closing soon.

To qualify you must buy Office 2007, install and activate it before Thursday 30 September 2010

That’s not a lot of time if you allow time to find and ship an Office 2007 version upgrade to you.

You have until 31 October 2010 to go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/tech-guarantee/ and request your free upgrade.


Save on Office 2010

As we’ve mentioned before, there’s an opportunity to save on buying the premium Office 2010 bundles by getting a qualifying copy of Office 2007 version upgrade and invoking the Technology Guarantee.

This works best with Office 2010 Professional where buying Office 2007, Ultimate, Professional or Small Business upgrade bundles will qualify. For example you can buy Office 2007 Small Business upgrade for US$232 and qualify for Office 2010 Professional instead of paying $409 or more buying Office 2010 Professional directly – saving $177 for exactly the same software and licenses.

You might need to hunt around for copies of Office 2007 since many stores have cleared their shelves and put in Office 2010 boxes instead. Generally speaking the reputable online retailers offer the best prices.

Amazon.com has Office 2007 with their ‘free super-saver shipping’. Office 2007 Small Business upgrade pack is the cheapest (retail price $280, street $232) with Office 2007 Ultimate upgrade for $320 (retail $540). It’s worth checking all prices before buying since there can be pricing anomalies, for example the Professional bundle costing more than the Ultimate edition.

For more details on the Office 2010 Technology Guarantee check out our feature Saving on Office 2010 by getting Office 2007 now


Licences

Office-Watch.com reader, Bev asked about the license you get with the Technology Guarantee. “I plan to buy the office 2007 upgrade and get the free download of 2010 Professional, but does that allow me to install 2010 on more than 1 computer?

You’re replacing like-for-like in terms of licenses – so if you get the retail Office 2010 Professional Technology Guarantee then it’s 2 transferable licenses one for a desktop and one for a portable machine. Home and Student it’s 3 transferable licenses in the home. If you bought an OEM version of Office 2007 with a new computer, then the single non-transferable license will apply.

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