Microsoft office 2008 for mac (with free upgrade of 2011)

The upgrade is for one copy of Office, not two. But if you purchase the 3-license Home and Student Edition, then you have three valid licenses.

See Promotion Details.

The Home and Student Edition comes with three separate licenses. Please read the product information or visit the MS website.

I've never understood the attraction of buying something just before an upgrade comes out. There are always extra hoops to jump through. Sometimes something doesn't go right and people get all upset. The upgrades take forever to arrive. Etc.

Why not just wait until 2011 is released and buy it then? I think you will save yourself time and hassle in the end.

Hi etresoft,

Most likely it has to do with immediate need. There's another thread I've been in where the OP purchased Monaco Profiler from X-Rite with the free upgrade to iProfiler. They needed the high end software now in order to profile their printers. The iProfiler upgrade isn't due out until at least early next year.

Office 2011 will be available in less than a month: http://blog.officeformac.com/office-for-mac-2011-available-october-26/

I know, but immediate need may be having to have the ability to create .docx files now. Even a one month wait may not work, depending on the circumstances.

If there were no need, then I'd wait for the new version, too.

Or, they have no need for the software right now, but can then sit on an unopened package and sell it on eBay or something after getting the 2011 version.

Kurt Lang wrote:
Or, they have no need for the software right now, but can then sit on an unopened package and sell it on eBay or something after getting the 2011 version.

That wouldn't be legal. When you upgrade software you cannot sell the old versions. Plus, a clever company like Microsoft may only give you a "upgrade key", which would be useless without the original license codes. That is yet another reason to wait. I hate having to deal with (and find) two sets of license codes.

That wouldn't be legal.

Normally, yes. But with the Home version, there actually is no upgrade path. Each major release is a stand-alone product with its own set of keys.

Unless, MS actually sends a special disk as the upgrade that requires verification of the previous software.

avtomu_05 wrote:
And is any difference (I mean in quality) between 2011 Microsoft offices to upgrades 2008 office? or they will be same?

The quality will be the same. The quantity might be different. The special upgrade promotion offer is for will allow you to download Office 2011. Sometimes, to reduce the file size, the downloaded version doesn't come with all the extras that the CD version does.

I think the licensing is the biggest hassle. When you need to reinstall, you enter your license key and then it may ask for your Office 2008 license key too. Sometimes the installer will try to scan your disk to make sure you have installed the old version too.

Of course, all of this is just speculation on my part based on past experiences with similar products. The full version will be available in four weeks. I already have Office 2008 and plan to upgrade as soon as I can.

Kurt Lang wrote:
Normally, yes. But with the Home version, there actually is no upgrade path. Each major release is a stand-alone product with its own set of keys.

I don't think that will be the case:

You will need an activated Office 2008 Product Key.

Unless, MS actually sends a special disk as the upgrade that requires verification of the previous software.

You will receive one upgrade Office for Mac 2011 product for each qualifying purchase.

I don't think that will be the case:

Come to think of it, I do remember now when Office 2008 was came out, that folks who did the free upgrade deal from Office 2004 had a similar outcome. You didn't just get a retail copy of Office 2008. Instead, it was an upgrade disk that would only install if Office 2004 was already on the hard drive.

MS has spelled out the upgrade path completely here:

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/Office2008/office-2011-upgrade.mspx

So it looks like you definitely aren't just going to get a 2011 retail disk.