Burning Microsoft Office onto a CD?

this is so illegal!!!!!! but i do know that my friend who got an ibook about a year ago got a copy of microsoft office on a burnt disk, but the disk has to be in the computer to use it...seriously, don't do that though!!!!

 Mac Mini Intel Core Solo- 1 GB RAM- Superdrive- Production week 18 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

I agree with -MacMini-, don't do that. The educational discount with 3 licenses is a good deal that shouldn't be abused.

How about we keep you legal and save you $80-$100?

First of all, consider NeoOffice. It is a free (somewhat) alternative based on OpenOffice. I used to be a very big fan of MS Office, but I have lately been disappointed in Word's handling of my wife's 413 page PhD dissertation. The PC version was faster and had features the Mac lacked.

If you do want to stick with Office, contact your school's IT department. Many schools have volume purchase agreements with Microsoft, Adobe, etc. that allow students to purchase software for even less than the educational price. You have to check though. These things are negotiated separately for each school. For example, I recently purchased a copy of Office 2003 (PC) from the Microsoft Home Use program for $20.

Once you get it, just drag the entire "Office" folder to a CD to back it up. I use Disk Utility to make disk images of all my install CDs and put them on my external drive. Reinstallation is really, really fast.

why not use pages, and export as a word document?

Neo Office, and several other Mac word processors support Word .Doc documents. See my FAQ:

http://www.macmaps.com/crossplatform.html

Does NeoOffice have .doc documents? I can't even
explain how important that is, and why I want/need
Office so badly.

I didn't know backing up Office would be illegal.

Also, my school doesn't offer one-time installation
(at least the Apple Tech Shop said they didn't) so
I'm just going to buy it.

i don't think that backing up the files is illegal, it is reselling your unused credits that is illegal

 Mac Mini Intel Core Solo- 1 GB RAM- Superdrive- Production week 18 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Don't bother with Office 2004 unless you have to... try one of these:

http://www.neooffice.org
http://www.openoffice.org
http://www.abisource.com/download/

For a LOT of other cool (and many FREE) apps, I always recommend:

http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/

"I can't even explain how important that is"

Well if you need it that badly, then you should consider doing the right thing by purchasing it. You're already getting a steep discount. How'd you like to have to pay almost $400 like the rest of us?

Your whole logic about "backing up Office" makes no sense anyway. I can't think of one time in my life where I ever felt the need to "back up" my software installers, and I do a LOT of computing on windows and mac.

You back up your COMPUTER. You retain the media and serial number should you need to reinstall for some reason. It's not like you are going to be handling the disc on an ongoing basis; once installed the CD can be safely tucked away. If you sell the computer you can transfer the license. But what you should not do, is burn and use a copy of the disc and then pass the original on to somebody else.

"I can't even explain how important that is"

Well if you need it that badly, then you should
consider doing the right thing by purchasing it.
You're already getting a steep discount. How'd you
like to have to pay almost $400 like the rest of us?

what!!!!!! the version that cost $100 with the discount costs the rest of us $149 (and isn't there a discount on it right now)...you're talking about the pro version...just because he isn't doing the right thing with this doesn't mean that you have to lie to him!

 Mac Mini Intel Core Solo- 1 GB RAM- Superdrive- Production week 18 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Yes, NeoOffice supports .doc documents. It should be fine for general-purpose school work. In any event, it is free. Download it and try it out. If you need more, you can alway buy Office later.

what!!!!!! the version that cost $100 with the discount costs the rest of us $149 (and isn't there a discount on it right now)...you're talking about the pro version...just because he isn't doing the right thing with this doesn't mean that you have to lie to him!

How is this a lie? I think you may be confused. Yes the student and teacher edition is $149, but there is a $50 MS rebate going on right now making it $100.

Office For non student/teachers is indeed $399. The upgrade from a previous version is $239. So it is quite expensive.

Now, to the original poster, my advice would be to buy Office if you really need full compatibility with word Docs and especially Windows Word users. Although the open source versions mentioned are all fine applications they are not Office and they are not 100% compatible. In my book, even for a student, $100 is very reasonable. After all you paid 10+ times that for your MacBook.

Also as the others have said, buying it, making a backup copy and then selling it, is illegal, even if you think that you are selling the other two keys. I believe the license agreement allows for those codes only to be used in the same household. So if you had 2 roommates that all lived in the same household and all had Macs, then I guess it would be legal to share the cost. Please also ignore the person that recommended piracy by using LimeWire. It is people like this that are causing software costs and prices to rise...

Regards,

RacerX

MacBook 2.0Ghz, 2GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7)

no...anyone can buy the student and teacher version for $99 now

 Mac Mini Intel Core Solo- 1 GB RAM- Superdrive- Production week 18 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Be sure to read the important warnings on their website, but yes, that appears to be the right link.

no...anyone can buy the student and teacher version
for $99 now

No, that's not the case. As always, it's a student and teacher edition. From the Apple store's web site, which notes the $50 rebate:

Eligibility Requirements
To license Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition, you must be a Qualified Educational User or the parent or guardian of a Qualified Educational User who is a minor. Qualified Educational Users include:
1. Full or part-time students
2. Home-schooled students
3. Full or part-time faculty or staff of an accredited educational institution.


If NeoOffice won't do the trick, the original poster might also consider using Pages, part of Apple's iWork suite which is just $80. Bring some of your documents on a CD to the Apple store and try it out if you like; it seems to work fine for me reading Windows .doc files, and exporting them.