Use the Technology Guarantee to buy Office 2010 cheaper than retail.
A one-off combination of decisions means there’s an opportunity for saving on buying Office 2010, by buying Office 2007 now.
The Office 2010 Technology Guarantee means new purchases of Office 2007 now qualifies you for a free copy of Office 2010 later in the year.
The Technology Guarantee isn’t new and there’s usually no great price difference. However the ‘premium’ editions of Office 2010 are considerably more expensive than the Office 2007 equivalents. That’s mostly because there is no ‘version upgrade’ options for Office 2010 – everyone buys the same product with no discount for existing Office users.
For example, buying Office 2007 Small Business Edition – version upgrade now will cost about US$230 (street price) with a free copy of Office 2010 Professional coming in June/July 2010. Office 2010 Professional has all the same applications plus OneNote and Access.
If you wait and buy Office 2010 Professional later the retail price is $499 – while the street price isn’t known, a discount of over 50% is unlikely.
You save $269 ($499-$230) by buying a qualifying Office 2007 bundle now.
Getting Office 2010 Professional cheaply
Office 2010 Professional will contain the 2010 versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher and Access.
The Technology Guarantee says that Office 2007, Ultimate, Professional or Small Business bundles will qualify for Office 2010 Professional.
So buying the cheapest legal, new, version upgrade copy of Office 2007 Ultimate or Professional or Small Business bundle is your path to the high-end Office 2010 bundle. Depending on which bundle you buy, Office 2010 Professional will add Access, Onenote or both.
You would think that the Small Business pack would be the cheapest (retail price $280, street $230) but at present Office 2007 Ultimate is the cheapest with Amazon selling it for $212 (retail $540).
Office 2010 Home and Business
The savings may not be as great with Office 2010 Home and Business (containing Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook and Onenote).
Buying Office 2007 Standard bundle now qualifies you – the version upgrade retail price is $240 but it’s on sale for $170.
Compare that with the Office 2010 Home and Business retail price of $279. Will the street price be higher than the $170 you pay now? You get OneNote 2010 as well.
Office 2007 Basic is only available from PC manufacturers. If you are offered it with a new computer, keep in mind the retail and possible street price of Office 2010 Home and Business to see if it’s a good deal.
Office 2010 Home and Student
There’s no price advantage since both the Office 2007 and Office 2010 Home & Student bundles have the same retail price; $149.
What’s the catch?
Not much.
Make sure you buy a legitimate, new copy of Office 2007 from a reputable retailer – second-hand copies don’t count. Ebay sales are specifically EXcluded from qualifying.
The ‘version upgrade’ Office 2007 bundles are cheaper. We’re assuming that Office-Watch.com readers have a qualifying copy of Office around.
It’s not enough to just buy Office 2007 and leave it on a shelf. You have to install and activate the Office 2007 bundle then record the Product ID. We suggest recording the date, time, machine, IP address and other location details of your activation, just in case of a dispute.
Once Office 2010 is released you’ll be able to go online and claim the software for free download.
Keep your itemized and dated receipt for Office 2007 in case of a dispute.
All the gory details of the Technology Guarantee are on the Microsoft web site.
Important Dates
- March 5, 2010, and September 30, 2010
- Your Office 2007 software has to be purchased AND activated by 30 September 2010.
October 31, 2010
- You have to claim your Tech Guarantee upgrade from Microsoft by October 31, 2010
Links
To qualify for Office 2010 Professional (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher and Access) retail price $499:
Currently the Ultimate bundle is cheapest of the three at Amazon @ $212.
To qualify for Office 2010 Home and Business (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote) retail price $279:
(all links to the cheaper, version upgrade, edition at Amazon USA)
See Also
- Getting the right Office 2010 at the lowest price
- Alert! – Amazon Canada – Office 2010 price error
- Office 2007 – changing Product Key
- Office 2010 on 15 June 2010
- Do Office 2007 version upgrades really qualify for Office 2010?
- Office 2010 ‘free upgrade’ revealed
- More on Office 2010 Technology Guarantee
- Office 2010 under-stated system requirements
