Upgrade Works to Office

[Guest]

My PC came pre-installed with XP Home 2002 and Works 8.0 and I wish to
upgrade to MS Office Standard as cheaply as possible.

I understand that I qualifiy to purchase an upgrade version of Office and
have seen legit 2002 versions on Ebay (still in plastic).

Will a 2002 Office upgrade work??

creddy

 

[Jonny]

Consider the full version of Office 2003.
If, for any reason, you lose your current computer or becomes inop, you have
find another with qualifying software again. Not, likely to locate such a
beast.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

My PC came pre-installed with XP Home 2002 and Works 8.0 and I wish to
upgrade to MS Office Standard as cheaply as possible.

I understand that I qualifiy to purchase an upgrade version of Office
and have seen legit 2002 versions on Ebay (still in plastic).

Will a 2002 Office upgrade work??

No. According to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290540/, the list of
qualifing products for the Office XP (aka Office 2002) Upgrade are

. Office 97 Professional
. Office 97 Standard
. Office 97 Small Business Edition version 1.0, version 2.0
. Office 2000 Standard
. Office 2000 Small Business
. Office 2000 Professional
. Office 2000 Premium
. Office 2000 Developer



Works is not among them.

Also note, if you didn't realize it, that Office XP (aka 2002) is the
previous version of Office. The current version is Office 2003, and there
will be a new version out approximately at the end of the year.

Finally, note that in my view, buying such software on eBay is a
dangerous thing to do. You say that what you've seen is legit, but it's
difficult to be sure, and many people have been burned doing this sort of
thing.

 

[Guest]

Thank you both for the good advise.

So I should buy a full and latest version e.g. Office XP Standard 2003??

 

[Guest]

Also I am getting a bit confused as the following say I can upgrade
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/word/howtobuy/default.mspx

Regards

 

[Mike Williams]

Thank you both for the good advise.

So I should buy a full and latest version e.g. Office XP Standard 2003??

That is usually best value. A full retail version can be installed on
two computers (PC + laptop) and can can be transferred to a new computer
if your current one has to be replaced.

Whether you get Standard or Pro depends on which applications in the
Office range you actually need. Unlike Windows 2000/XP, the Professional
version of Office reflects the number of included applications rather
than the number of features in any/all applications.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Mike, I better start saving my pennies.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thank you both for the good advise.

So I should buy a full and latest version e.g. Office XP Standard
2003??

It's up to you. You can also buy an older version; it won't have all the
latest features, but it will be considerably cheaper and may be adequate for
your needs.

Alternatively you may want to acquire a less expensive (in the case of
OpenOffice, free) compatible program like WordPerfect Office, Star Office,
or Open Office. Those can be similar, but not *exactly* the same as
Microsoft Office. Personally I *prefer* WordPerfect to Word, but obviously
most other. don't.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Also I am getting a bit confused as the following say I can upgrade
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/word/howtobuy/default.mspx

That says you can upgrade from Works to Word, not to the full Office suite.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Alan]

Why does it have to be Office?

There is a free suite of programs available- OpenOffice. Try it before you
commit your money. If you need support there is a version that is around £50
and possibly a little more accomplished.

It is rather good and worth a try. If you are in the UK it was on a computer
mag cover disk recently if you don't have broadband for the download.

 

[Guest]

Sorry Ken my mistake I meant to post the following.

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/howtobuy/editions.mspx

• Upgrade Eligibility
If you already have Office 97, Office 2000, Office XP, Works or Works Suite
you have the option to save money by buying an 'upgrade version' rather than
a new full version. Contact your preferred supplier about an upgrade option.
Please be aware that Works Suite includes the version of Word that precedes
the current version.

Cheers

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the advise Alan

Me and my wife are both used to using Word and Excel and find Works a bit
limiting, also most companies have Word so it makes it easier to send CVs etc.

 

[Mike Williams]

Thanks for the advise Alan

Me and my wife are both used to using Word and Excel and find Works a bit
limiting, also most companies have Word so it makes it easier to send CVs etc.

Note that, unless you are adding quite fancy formatting to your CV and
other documents, you could just compose it in WordPad (free Windows
utility) and save as an RTF file. Word opens/edits RTF easily.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Ken

Im quite set on getting Office and it dosnt have to be the latest version
its just a case of finding a copy at the right price.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Mike
--
creddy

Note that, unless you are adding quite fancy formatting to your CV and
other documents, you could just compose it in WordPad (free Windows
utility) and save as an RTF file. Word opens/edits RTF easily.

 

[Gordon]

Thanks Ken

Im quite set on getting Office and it dosnt have to be the latest
version its just a case of finding a copy at the right price.

Try OpenOffice www.openopffice.org - that's definitely a good price, it's
FREE and will do almost anything that Office 2002 will do (except outlook of
course). It will both read and edit Office files, and also save-as Office
file format. It will also export a document to pdf - something which even
Office 2003 won't do.

 

[Guest]

Sounds fantastic thanks Gordon Ile check it out.

 

[Gordon]

Sounds fantastic thanks Gordon Ile check it out.

Be warned - if you have documents in Works format, neither MS Office nor
Open Office will read them. You MUST open Works and do a "Save-As" for each
documentn in Works format and save them as an Office format document BEFORE
you un-install Works!

HTH

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Sorry Ken my mistake I meant to post the following.

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/howtobuy/editions.mspx

. Upgrade Eligibility
If you already have Office 97, Office 2000, Office XP, Works or Works
Suite you have the option to save money by buying an 'upgrade
version' rather than a new full version. Contact your preferred
supplier about an upgrade option. Please be aware that Works Suite
includes the version of Word that precedes the current version.

Yes, that clearly contradicts the link I sent earlier. Sorry, I can't
explain why, and am not sure which is correct.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks Ken

Im quite set on getting Office and it dosnt have to be the latest
version its just a case of finding a copy at the right price.

OK, if Microsoft Office is what you prefer, then by all means go ahead and
get it. If you're willing to use an older version, I'm sure you can find one
inexpensively if you look around. For example, I jus searched amazon.com and
they have Office 2000 Professional for $95.99.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup