Microsoft Office Licensing

[FOBSIDE]

If I purchase Microsoft Office suites, can I move different applications to different machines or do I have to keep all the Office programs on one machine? Does it differ, depending on whether its the Small Bussines, Professional, or other? I think it might make a difference if it's Office XP vs. Office 2000, because I believe I was forced to register my copy of Office XP.

Please let me know if you have any helpful answer. Thanks for any help.

 

[fjones]

As I understand it, to be legal you may have only one copy of any piece of software running on only one PC at any given time. This means that you could load the entire office suiet on several different PCs as long as you are only using it on one PC at any given time. You may not however install it on a server and access it with several differnt PCs. Does that help?

 

[FOBSIDE]

I was actually refering to installing each applciation, like Word, Excel, and Access on a different machine. Only one person would use each one, but it's not the same one person.

 

[gdtaylor]

You cannot install the individual applications of the Office Suite on seperate machines. From the End User Licence Agreement for Microsoft Software (EULA):

Separation of Component Parts. The Software Product is licensed as a single product. Its component parts may not be separated for use on more than one Device unless expressly permitted by this EULA."

If you have a Retail or Academic version of the Office suite then you may also install a copy of office on a laptop computer for your exclusive use. From the Microsoft Office web site:

Q. Can I install my copy of Office XP on my home computer and my laptop?

A. Yes. According to the End User License for Microsoft Software, you can install and use your retail copy of Office XP on a single desktop computer and on your laptop, for your exclusive use. However, this does not apply to Office XP product licenses acquired with the purchase of a computer. These original equipment manufacturer (OEM) licenses are single-use licenses that cannot be transferred to another desktop computer or laptop. Learn more about Microsoft product activation.

Note the "single desktop computer" reference. You cannot install office on multiple computers even if you are only using one of the computers at a time.