Which Office to Install?

[b4u]

Hi,

I'm having a dilema about which office to install on a system.

I'm going to buy 4 computers for a small office network. I already have installed a Windows 2000 Server, which will remain in it's functions as a server.

Now for the new computers, I would like to continue the policy of no-piracy, so I have to choose an operating system ... that's easy, Windows XP Pro as Vista is way too far away right now.

No for an the Office suite is a bit more complicated. Today I can buy Office 2003 Pro OEM for around 300$. I need 4 of them, which makes it a 1200$ worth of software. That would be ok if Office 2006 wasn't just "around" the corner ... I mean, the new version will apparently arrive early next year ... then I would have to pay for full licenses instead of OEM which will probably be more costly ... still it would be a better office (at least I hope so).

So any opinion valid on what would you see as the best option to go for software.

Thanks

 

[shortylickens]

My personal preference is Office 2000. Its cheap, it does the job and it has plenty of service packs or service releases already.

2003 is nice. I have it on one of my home comuters. We finally JUST got it at work last week. Which is amusing since 2007 is already in the 2nd beta stage.

On the other hand, if you consider yourself to be a serious Office user (you NEED to have the latest and best), then you should hold off until 2007 is actually available.

 

[phantom404]

Get the beta version of Office 2007 which expires I think In Jan 2007. Office 2007 should be released not to far from then.

 

[thebigdude]

What you could do is install open office in the short term and then install Office 2007 when it comes out.

Edit: Open office is free and it's solid for home use but I don't know about how well it would stand up for business needs though.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: phantom404
Get the beta version of Office 2007 which expires I think In Jan 2007. Office 2007 should be released not to far from then.

i have office 2007 beta. it is pretty nice.

only problem i have with it is when i open email the message is not there!

 

[imported_LoKe]

OpenOffice.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: thebigdude
What you could do is install open office in the short term and then install Office 2007 when it comes out.

Edit: Open office is free and it's solid for home use but I don't know about how well it would stand up for business needs though.

Originally posted by: LoKe
OpenOffice.

IMO, openoffice wouldn't stand up for heavy business use compared to excel and access. And it just doesn't always format Word documents properly, at least not the MSWord would, which could make things aggravating if you're sending documents back and forth with another company, customer, from work/home, etc...

 

[doornail]

Go with OpenOffice and spend the $1200 on a kickass network printer.

 

[b4u]

I also thought of OpenOffice as a valid choice ... the main problem is that it can potentially mess up with the formatting of current and future word documents. Since the users will share documents with clients, the need for a solid compatibility is needed.

What about Office 2007 beta? Is it free?

 

[secretanchitman]

the office 2007 beta is free...and it works quite well for me minus a couple of bugs and a minor crash.

or office 2k/2k3 are still solid choices.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Open Office is what I use at home and work. Microsoft's products are a little nicer, but the cost savings is enough reason for me to neglect that. Just be careful because presentation formatting when converted to ppt format can sometimes be a little flakey. If you design on Impress, you should stick to that for the presentation...

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Open Office is what I use at home and work. Microsoft's products are a little nicer, but the cost savings is enough reason for me to neglect that. Just be careful because presentation formatting when converted to ppt format can sometimes be a little flakey. If you design on Impress, you should stick to that for the presentation...

Depends on what you need Office for. OO would never work for at least 30-40% if what I need office apps for. I tried for 3 days to use it, it never came close to what I needed. Unless someone can tell me how to do very involved pivot tables in OO.

 

[b4u]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: phantom404
Get the beta version of Office 2007 which expires I think In Jan 2007. Office 2007 should be released not to far from then.

i have office 2007 beta. it is pretty nice.

only problem i have with it is when i open email the message is not there!

The beta2 expires on 1-Feb-2007. Then I would hope the final version was out, or it would be a pain.

How is Office 2007 Beta2 running? Does it have problems, crashes? Or does it work fine?

waggy: what you mean with message is not there when you open? You mean Outlook doesn't display email messages on startup?

About OEM versions: If I buy a computer with WinXPPro OEM and Office 2k3 OEM, does the software in any way comes "registered" for the computers? I mean, if I buy 4 computers with 4 Win and 4 Office, I plan to install a version on one computer, then image the HD for other machines ... so all machines will have the same software/key, but I will have licenses for them all. (Unless I use a 3rd party tool to change the keys, but only if I legally need to have one key for each pc).

Thanks

 

[Slowlearner]

Office 2003 Standard OEM is like 125$, and unless some one needs Access, it should do just fine. All OEM software is supposed to be installed on a new system build and is not transferable to another computer, and now that Office requires activation, this something to keep in mind.

 

[Parasitic]

Why do you need 4 licenses of Office 2003?
If you are a student or have a kid who's a student, you qualify for the Office 2003 Students and Teachers edition, which would run you $149 or less when it's on sale at major retailers. The Office 2003 ST edition gives you 3 licenses out of the box. If you need Access then purchase it separately.

So if you need it for 4 computes, that'd be $150*2 + add'l license for Access.

 

[pkme2]

Open Office is free.

 

[b4u]

Originally posted by: Parasitic
Why do you need 4 licenses of Office 2003?
If you are a student or have a kid who's a student, you qualify for the Office 2003 Students and Teachers edition, which would run you $149 or less when it's on sale at major retailers. The Office 2003 ST edition gives you 3 licenses out of the box. If you need Access then purchase it separately.

So if you need it for 4 computes, that'd be $150*2 + add'l license for Access.

The office is to be installed on a small office network, so no student license is possible.

I do believe that the OEM version is the less expensive license around ... if I go for a full license for small office (minimum 5 licenses), it will cost me more than 4 separate OEM.

I know that a OEM version is for a new computer, and only that one computer. But am I entitled to unbox only one OEM, install it on a computer then image it to the other computers? Even though I will not unbox the other OEM versions, I have bought them.

Question about Access:

I'm not sure if they will need access or not. That is, they have some software that persist their data on access files. If I can convince them (through $$$) that they have a less expensive version, but without access, will the software still be able to work with access data files? Because if office doesn't come with access, there will be no access extensions installed by default.