QUESTION My Microsoft Windows Vista laptop came preinstalled with a trial version of Microsoft Office 2010, for which I purchased the product code. I now want to buy Microsoft Office Home and Student 2010, but I'm not sure whether I need to buy the boxed version or the product key, or whether I should delete Office 2007 before installing it. Verna Tempest
HELPROOM ANSWER If you're eligible for a free upgrade, download the 2010 trial and enter your existing product key. This will unlock the full Home & Student edition of Microsoft Office 2010 on your computer.
If you aren't eligible for this upgrade, then it's really up to you which version you buy. With retailers setting their own pricing schemes, it's not necessarily cheaper to buy the product code than the boxed version.
We found a single-user boxed copy for £69 at Amazon, whereas a single-user download version costs £73. Microsoft sells the three-user download for £109, and the boxed copy for £110. Our own software shop, meanwhile, is currently selling the same download for £97.
Office 2007 and 2010 can run on your machine at the same time; you'll need to remove one only if disk space is an issue. Note, however, that Outlook 2007 will be replaced with Outlook 2010.
Comments
kso_user said: I downloaded Kingsoft Office 2010 from BinaryNow trial was free for 30 days and then registration cost was only 3995 and never looked back If you are fine with alternative office and save then try wwwbinarynowcomproductskin
Damon said: Just note tha if you dont purchase professionalyoull need to do a complete uninstall of your trial version then install the newly purchased version There have been quite a few issues with folks installing home and student versions and the keys not working properly Theres been a lot of discussion around this here wwwmicrosoftoffice2010formsc