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Work at Home vs Home Use Program

What’s the difference between the WAH and HUP programs from Microsoft?

Microsoft has two different programs to let staff use Office software at home, the Work at Home (WAH) programs and the Home Use Program (HUP).

From the program names you might think they are similar but they are not.

We’ve received several messages from people who have read the more restrictive WAH rules and assumed they apply to the HUP as well.


Work at Home (WAH)

The Work at Home program is for Academic licences only. It allows an institution staff member to install Office on their own single computer (ie owned or leased by the staffer not the institution) for work purposes only.

Of course, Microsoft has no way of controlling that the software is used for work purposes but that’s the rule.

This is under the Academic pages at Microsoft

For each copy of Microsoft Office you license, the primary user of the computer on or from which the product is run may also run a second copy from either a laptop or desktop computer that he or she owns or leases. The software may be used only for work-related purposes and only during the term of the agreement (including any renewals).


Home Use Program

Office-Watch.com has talked about the HUP at length in the past and also in Office 2010: the real startup guide.

The Home Use Program is for any organization using the Software Assurance licensing program.

Staff can get a low-cost copy of Microsoft Office via the HUP for use on their home computers. The HUP is a separate license for Office and that license is the standard ‘one desktop plus one portable’ arrangement.

HUP licenses can be used for any non-commercial purpose. Though again, Microsoft has no way to control that.

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