The Ultimate Steal...

[RichS]

Figured this belonged here...

Are you a college student, currently taking classes, have an e-mail address from said college, and need/want/have to have Office 2007?

Microsoft started The Ultimate Steal promotion last Wednesday (9/19/07), and will start it in other countries the following week.

Essentially, the deal is: Get Office 2007 Ultimate, which normally retails for $679, for $59.95.

No rush - the deal is on until April 30, 2008.

[Ryu]

Meh. Next time I need to get office, I have an older version I believe but it works fine, I'll get Open Office for free, it works just as well.

[RichS]

Oh thank you thank you thank you for posting this.

You're very welcome. I was hoping that this would help someone.

I'm taking Powerpoint and Access classes starting next week, but I've got Office 2003 and that's what my college is currently using. If they start requiring Office 2007, however, at least I'll have a low-cost option.

[Broomjockey]

*curses fate that had him purchase 2003 last year* Bah. I'll think about it though. Might be useful, as my college has upgraded some of the computers to have 2003 and 2007, so I'd be able to print out still without too many issues. *Goes to check if it's available in Canada*

[Caveat Emptor]

*considers upgrading*.... My employer has 2007, I did a wekly assignment once on my break but my prof couldn't read it....are there backwards compatibility issues??

BUT WAIT A MINUTE! READ THE FINE PRINT!!! "Eligible students may have free access to Microsoft® Office Ultimate 2007 Trial for a limited amount of time. Each trial provides (1) 25 application launches (each launch of an individual Office Ultimate application is counted as one launch) before the software goes into reduced functionality mode (at which time your software behaves similarly to a viewer, you cannot save modifications to documents or create any new documents, and additional functionality might be reduced); and (2) the opportunity to purchase the following perpetual license for the Microsoft® Office Ultimate 2007 software:

[RichS]

BUT WAIT A MINUTE! READ THE FINE PRINT!!! "Eligible students may have free access to Microsoft® Office Ultimate 2007 Trial for a limited amount of time. Each trial provides (1) 25 application launches (each launch of an individual Office Ultimate application is counted as one launch) before the software goes into reduced functionality mode (at which time your software behaves similarly to a viewer, you cannot save modifications to documents or create any new documents, and additional functionality might be reduced);

That's the explanation of how the Office 2007 Ultimate Trial software works, yes.

From what I've read on the website, part of the promotion is downloading and installing the Trial software. You activate it to the full version by using the product key they send you at your college e-mail address when you purchase the product, as they state below what's been already quoted:

Trial Conversion:
Eligible students can convert their Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007 Trial to the perpetual license by returning to Promotion website prior to the Promotion deadline and purchasing the relevant product key.

So, essentially:
1) buy Office through promotion, they send product key,
2) you download and install the Office 2007 Ultimate Trial software,
3) you activate it to full version by using the purchased product key.

For a 'small charge' , they'll send a DVD of the software.

[Caveat Emptor]

To the Dark Lord of Redmond, a "small charge" is the retail price of the software, I'd imagine.

[Banrion]

I have tried, and cannot find anywhere previous to inputting CC info that allows you to select to receive the software on DVD.

[draggar]

I got it for $30 though a work deal.

[Mr. Rager!]

Meh. Next time I need to get office, I have an older version I believe but it works fine, I'll get Open Office for free, it works just as well.

Not really.

If you need a specific kind of clip art, open office will not have it. If you need a specific kind of layout, open office will not have that either.

And as far as I know, open office doesn't have the ability to put your paper in APA format.

Oh yes, Microsoft Office is a sweet, sweet thing.

[Banrion]

And as far as I know, open office doesn't have the ability to put your paper in APA format.

WHAT!!! Please share your secret. I just enrolled in an online degree program, and EVERYTHING is APA format, and even though I think I am following the manual to the letter, I keep getting marks off for my format. Office will do this automatically?

I currently have Office 2003, but for $60.00 I am going to jump on Office 2007.

[Mr. Rager!]

WHAT!!! Please share your secret. I just enrolled in an online degree program, and EVERYTHING is APA format, and even though I think I am following the manual to the letter, I keep getting marks off for my format. Office will do this automatically?

I currently have Office 2003, but for $60.00 I am going to jump on Office 2007.

My Fundamentals of Computers professor was talking about how Word 2007 can put your paper into APA format, and some professors are pissed about it because they want students to learn APA.

I haven't tried it myself yet

[Banrion]

Well then that seals the deal, and I have a DVD burner, so I will just burn the install pack to DVD since I can't figure out how to get the legit DVD from Microsoft through this deal.

As a side note, why in DOYC's name do people really need to know APA off the top of their heads? I am an accounting major, and already in an accounting job. Outside of school I can count on a slugs hands how many times I will think about APA, nevermide actually using it. It is the focus on these completely useless things that made me drop out of school the first time.

[Mr. Rager!]

I was told throughout high school and my first couple of years that I would need to know MLA. Then when I started school after a 7 month break, it all went to APA. I was pissed.

[Banrion]

Yep, me too. All through high school, and my first stint in college was MLA, now my new school is all APA, and since it is an online degree, I pretty much have a paper due every single week and I keep losing 5 out of 75 points for my formatting, but my prof is a total passive-agressive and won't tell you what you did incorrectly, he just gives comments like "Improve APA formatting" Obviously, if I knew it was wrong, I wouldn't have turned it in that way. The other thing that scares me is there is a girl in my class with me who is at the end of her program, and she said that she has had 28 classes, and no two professors have expected the same thing for APA formatting. I have purchased the official APA manual from the APA for future reference so that I can fight those points if need be.