This article was last updated on May 19, 2022
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Office 2007 is like Vista making Office 2010 a must upgrade Microsoft has jacked up prices accordingly
I have been searching for 80 days for a low cost source for Microsoft Office 2010 and found it at eValusoftware.com. A 2 computer license cost only $160, about $120 less than most places.
If Microsoft hadn’t pulled a Vista and ruined Office with Office 2007, I wouldn’t be upgrading. I live inside Microsoft Office and have for almost 20 years. The GUI changes in Office 2007 buried things like “File Share” and standard formatting you use all day long along a new-fangled “ribbon”. Everyone hates it including the mothers of Microsoft programmers.
Microsoft’s fixed most of the interface with Office 2010 which they offered on a 90 to 180 day trial. Good move since I got used to it. The crunch comes when you try to buy it. Office 2010 Home and Student for 3 users is a reasonable $160 but it leaves out Outlook which is the best mail client for people with multiple accounts, access to Exchange and a host of other complications.
Microsoft Home Office and Business includes Word 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, OneNote 2010, and Outlook 2010 and leaving out Access 2010. It costs a whopping $350 but is often sold for $280. In the confusing world of Microsoft licensing, this version is a 2 computer license which is perfect for someone with 2 desktops or a desktop/laptop combination.
Getting the best price
eValuesoftware.com, which I found on Amazon.com, offers the same 2 user license for $160. That’s the lowest legal price I could find.
The company is a Microsoft Partner, an Amazon.com partner and proudly links you to their Better Business Bureau rating. You can’t be too careful buying software on line. Many of the lowest priced sites are scams to get your credit card.
The software is not a DVD. It requires a few simple steps to download.
- Order the software from eValuesoftware.com
- Wait 2 hours for the product keys to arrive
- Download the 90 evaluation software from Microsoft.
- Install Office 2010 and inset keys given. That’s it.
It would be prudent to backup up the download file since there is no DVD. In my case, I was evaluating Office 2010 Professional which had to be uninstalled before the eval copy of Office
Home and Business 2010 could be installed. Cost per CPU was $80.
Office Professional costs $240. Home and Student is $100. Some versions have DVD options.
The downside is obviously not having a DVD but a penny saved is a penny earned.
In the Cloud
Some people are switching off Microsoft Office completely and going with Google Docs. They are free and almost compatible with Office. I tried that and it works but wasn’t comfortable with moving 20 years of documents from my computer to some cloud location on the web. That may be feasible in the future but not yet.
Disclosure
We have no business relationship with Microsoft or eValuesoftware.com which is typical for products we write about. We do get a minuscule commission on items you purchase at Amazon.com or Amazon.ca if you link directly from this site. Our recommendations are always based on our honest evaluation and lowest landed cost.
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eValueSoftware is a scam. I ordered their Retail Downloand of Office 2010 with the two licenses, received the comment_content_author_email receipt and two hour notice and that was 3 weeks ago. I still have not received my license keys. I have contacted them several times via comment_content_author_email and phone with no success. I requested a refund, and only silence. I have filed a complaing with the BBB and they do not respond to them.
My company evaluated OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/) and found it to be good. The only problem was the formatting of Word docs was not 100% which unfortunately, since we share files with outscomment_IDe stakeholders, a bit of a deal breaker. Bescomment_IDes, we’re afracomment_ID like everybody else tied to Bill’s apron strings. Nevertheless, it is worth trying out because… it’s free!