Ms Office for ‘Students and Teachers’

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What’s the deal with MS Office product at a reduced price that says it is for “Students and Teachers”? Do you actually have to prove that you are a student at the time of purchase or could you become a student later…????

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At time of purchase.

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It depends. Rumor has it that many stores do NOT ask for proof. The Office XP version will not qualify for an upgrade to Ofiice 2003 if that is of any concern. But I read that the Office 2003 version will qualify as an upgrade for the next version.

Joe

--Joe

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The store don’t need to ask for proof that you are a student. They sell you a box, containing just a form to fill in. You get this completed by your educational institution and send it off to Microsoft who then send you the software.

StuartR

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At the CompUSA store near Emeryville, CA, you get a CD (in a large promotional clamshell package) to take home and they don’t ask for ID. But this could reflect the attitude of local management and not official Microsoft policy.

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This could also be the difference between buying Office 97 Student Edition in the UK about four years ago and buying Office XP in the USA in 2003.

StuartR

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My daughter is a student at a nearby Business College. They use Office XP 2003 for Students and Teachers on the machines.
I went and purchased a full CD w/manuals for her home computer. Staples didn’t ask for college ID. When I installed the cd, it DID ask for the name of the school where she attends, and naturally her name,etc…other than activating via telphone to Microsoft, nothing else was required. Oh yes, almost forgot…when I activated it, I then proceeded to go to the Office Update to d/l anything that was required, it DID ask for the cd to be placed in the drive for verification,etc.

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Sounds like it must vary a lot depending on where you go. I am on the Board of our State Technical College system, and as such qualify for the discount. I regularly order online from Journeyed.com – but they require me to fax or email them some proof every year verifying that my status is current. I fax them a letter from the system office on letterhead, and that takes care of it. I was NOT aware of the issue of XP not qualifying for upgrade. Journeyed advertises that all the software is equivalent to the regular version (or at least they did last time I looked).

-cynthia

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I think you might have purchased Office Standard or Office Professional at academic pricing (complete “Academic Retail” catalog here), rather than purchasing this “Students and Teachers” edition. As shown below, the Students and Teachers package looks quite different than a normal Office package.

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The News article at http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-995190.html%5B/url%5D says that the Office2003 Educational Version is available to students, teachers, and their families. There is a complete explanation.
It also implies that this may be Microsoft’s way of offering a discount to a large portion of the population, in response to competitive pressure, without having to admit that its overall price structure is changing. Very interesting.
…J.Till

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