Vista Ultimate and Office

[guava]

The person who sold me Vista Ultimate said that it came with everything I
needed for business (word, excel, etc), yet I don't find any of these
programs. Should they be there, or should I buy the software separately?

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

That person lied. The Office Suite has a separate Product Key, and is not
included by MS in Vista. 'open office' is an alternative less demanding
users claim is a fair substitute.
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Mark L. Ferguson
..

 

[Mark Veldhuis]

After serious thinking guava wrote :

The person who sold me Vista Ultimate said that it came with everything I
needed for business (word, excel, etc), yet I don't find any of these
programs. Should they be there,
No.

or should I buy the software separately?

Yes, you should buy Microsoft Office (or maybe try alternatives like
OpenOffice).

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Guava.

Either you misunderstood, or that person misled you, intentionally or not.
:>(

Vista is an operating system. That provides the basic functionality for
your computer and is the structure into which you can plug lots of other
software to do all kinds of jobs. SOME vendors "bundle" additional software
with the computers they sell, but not all do. And very few bundle a full
Office suite. Some include a Microsoft Works suite, which may include a
simpler word processor and spreadsheet. No version of Vista, not even
Ultimate, includes any part of Office. Neither did any prior version of
Windows.

Microsoft Office is a suite of applications, including the ones you mention
(Word, Excel) and others (Access, PowerPoint...) depending on which version
of Office you buy (Standard, Professional, etc.); see:
http://www.windowsmarketplace.com/content.aspx?ctId=391&WT.mc_id=point_it_generic_office_B_G

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

 

[ray]

The person who sold me Vista Ultimate said that it came with everything
I needed for business (word, excel, etc), yet I don't find any of these
programs. Should they be there, or should I buy the software
separately?

He lied to you. It's not included by default with the OS. It's not there
(at least the 'real' version (as opposed to demo) unless the OEM included
it - which is doubtful.

I would suggest that before you fork out for it, you try OpenOffice.org -
a free open source office suite that is quite compatible with MS Office.
It imports/exports MS files and others as well. It will probably do what
you need.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

The person who sold me Vista Ultimate said that it came with everything I
needed for business (word, excel, etc),

Neither Windows Vista, nor any other version of Windows, has ever come
with Word or Excel nor with any other significant application
software.

If he told you that, one of three things is true.

1. He purposely lied to you

2. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

3. If he sold you a computer with Vista preinstalled, not just Vista
by itself, he may have meant that the computer came with Vista *and*
with Microsoft Office.

yet I don't find any of these
programs.

Then number 3 is unlikely. Regardless of whether 1 or 2 is true, this
sounds like a good store to avoid in the future.

Should they be there, or should I buy the software separately?

If you want an Office Suite, you'll need to get it separately. You
have several choices:

1. The current version of Microsoft is Office 2007. It's expensive.

2. You should be able to find a used copy of an older version of
Microsoft Office for considerably less money. Office 2000, 2002 (aka
Office XP), and Office 2003 all work under Vista, although Outlook
2000 won't save your password.

3. You can buy WordPerfect Office. Version X4 just came out. Although
WordPerfect is no longer the industry leader it used to be, some of us
still prefer it.

4. You can use (or at least try) the freeware OpenOffice, which many
people like.

 

[ray]

Neither Windows Vista, nor any other version of Windows, has ever come
with Word or Excel nor with any other significant application software.

If he told you that, one of three things is true.

1. He purposely lied to you

2. He doesn't know what he's talking about.

3. If he sold you a computer with Vista preinstalled, not just Vista by
itself, he may have meant that the computer came with Vista *and* with
Microsoft Office.




Then number 3 is unlikely. Regardless of whether 1 or 2 is true, this
sounds like a good store to avoid in the future.




If you want an Office Suite, you'll need to get it separately. You have
several choices:

1. The current version of Microsoft is Office 2007. It's expensive.

2. You should be able to find a used copy of an older version of
Microsoft Office for considerably less money. Office 2000, 2002 (aka
Office XP), and Office 2003 all work under Vista, although Outlook 2000
won't save your password.

3. You can buy WordPerfect Office. Version X4 just came out. Although
WordPerfect is no longer the industry leader it used to be, some of us
still prefer it.

4. You can use (or at least try) the freeware OpenOffice, which many
people like.

Technically, OpenOffice is not freeware - it is open source; though it is
free.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

The person who sold me Vista Ultimate said that it came with everything I
needed for business (word, excel, etc), yet I don't find any of these
programs. Should they be there, or should I buy the software separately?

Neither the Microsoft Office application suite, nor any of its
individual component applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access,
Outlook, etc.), have _ever_ been "part" of *any* Windows operating
system. They are, and always have been, separate applications, that
must be purchased and installed separately.

Microsoft Office comes pre-installed on new computers only when the
manufacturer loads a time-bombed evaluation license, or the computer
manufacturer chooses to offer the full license, and the purchaser is
willing to pay extra for it.


--

Bruce Chambers

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