Office XP or wait for Office 2003

[Cosmos75]

I've found a webiste that sells software at a reasonable price. http://www.viosoftware.com

Was wondering if I should just go ahead and buy Office XP Developers Edition or wait till the release of Office 2003? Any opinions?

 

[MadMaxx]

If you have the cash get Developer Edition. Doesn't really matter to me. The company I work for is pretty current with software so there is allways the "latest and greatest" here.

 

[Rich]

Given that every other version of Access seems to be riddled with bugs, you might like to wait until 2005

 

[Pat Hartman]

I think that even-numbered versions of Access are more stable than odd-numbered versions.

Access 1/1.1 ???
Access 2 - stable
Access 95 - (internally version 7.0) unstable
Access 97 - (internally version 8.0) stable
Access 2000 - (internally version 9.0) unstable
Access 2002 - (inernally version 10.0) stable
Access 2003 - (internally version 11.0) ???? will the trend continue?

Big changes happened with A95 and A2K which probably accounts for the bugginess. A2003 does not seem to include anything radical and so may break the trend.

 

[SforSoftware]

Indeed Access 2003 doesn't add very much new things. I see only one problem for Office 2003: Windows XP is needed. For me it's no problem, and I think for most developers, but many of my customers work still with Windows 98 / ME, so I can't distribute the Access 2003 Runtime Edition to them.
Now I work for more than a year with Office XP Developer and it works fine.

I will upgrade to Office 2003, but Office XP will still be on my system.

Greetz
Bert

 

[Cosmos75]

Rich and Pat,
Did not know about every other or even numbered versions were more stable than the others. Thank you for pointing that out.


Reason for my posting this thread is that I would like a personal copy of Microsoft Office to use at home.

One could go with the Action Pack Subscription that ended up being discussed here (http://www.access-programmers.co.uk...adid=49034&highlight=Action+Pack+Subscription) for people who;

1) Want tons of software cheap ($299-standard pack);
Product Title, Number Of Licenses, Number of Client Access Licenses
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, 1, 10
- Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server, 1, 10
- Microsoft Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server, 1, 10
- Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 1, 10
- Microsoft Small Business Server 2000, 1, 10
- Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2000, 1, Not Applicable
- Microsoft Mobile Information Server 2002, 1, Not Applicable
- Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2001, 1, 10
- Microsoft Windows XP Professional, 10, Not Applicable
- Microsoft Office XP Professional, 10, Not Applicable
- Microsoft FrontPage 2002, 10, Not Applicable
- Microsoft Outlook 2002, 10, Not Applicable
- Microsoft MapPoint 2002, 10, Not Applicable
- Microsoft Visio 2002 SR1 Professional, 10, Not Applicable
- Microsoft Project 2002 Professional, 10, Not Applicable
- Microsoft Publisher 2002, 10, Not Applicable,

2) Don't mind using for only 1 year since "you agree to immediately cease use of and to destroy all copies of any Microsoft Products provided with or licensed under the Subscription" after your one year subscription is up.

2) and, use it for "internal business use, testing, evaluation, demonstration, training, and educational purposes only. For example, you can use the Action Pack software to host your company's Intranet but it CANNOT be used to host a commercial Web site. This is considered a production environment that is outside the scope of the software's intended purpose"

 

[Cosmos75]

Indeed Access 2003 doesn't add very much new things. I see only one problem for Office 2003: Windows XP is needed.

Bert, thank you for pointing that out. Just saw it after I had posted my previous response. Office XP is now in the lead for the reason you stated.

 

[Cosmos75]

Any good online stores for software? (I am in the US but feel free to post for other countries as well.)

Just a note - www.viosoftware.com is a "Women and Minority owned company". and is highly rated at resellerratings.com (http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1308.html).

 

[Cosmos75]

Finally!

Bought Office XP Developers Edition from www.KasSystems.com. Great price. Let's hope that they are good with customer support. Got a good price for it - US$424.


Soon I will finally have MS Office on my personal computer at home! (Well I could have installed Office 95! Found it laying around somewhere, left over from my uni days!)

 

[Kevin_S]

Cosmos/Others:

Just to follow along the lines of this thread - another good place to get software cheap is http://www.gradware.com/

You have to have someone in the family in school but you can get really expensive software cheap . Case in point - My wife is working on her Masters so I was able to pick up Visual Studio.Net 2003 professional for $99 US!!!!! Microsoft lists VS.Net 2003 pro for $1,800 US on their website!!!

HTH,
Kev

 

[Cosmos75]

Kevin_S,
Does it matter who uses the software a graduate student buys?

On another note;
I just read in another post that there will be no Developer edition of Office 2003. You have to buy Developer Tools, which you have to purchase seperately from Office 2003.
http://www.access-programmers.co.uk...hreadid=60031&highlight=office+2003+developer

SQL Server 2000 (Comes with MS Office XP Developer Edition)
http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60681

 

[Kevin_S]

Cosmos:

Here is some additional reading on the requirements to qualify under "Academic" Status - basically K-12 and/or colleges, etc... plus other represented groups (see link)

http://www.gradware.com/AcademicID.asp

Also of Note* This is straight from their website:

What is academic software?
Educational versions of software, or academically priced software, are functionally identical to commercial versions of the software. The main difference is the licensing agreement of the educational version which states that academically priced software cannot be used for commercial purposes. Any qualified educational customer is eligible to purchase software at academic discounts.

For instance, in my case I use VS.Net 2003 Pro at home to teach myself the software and then use a copy at work for doing the actual development/distribution of applications. Check their site for more details....

As far as who uses the software... I don't think that is really of issue as you could buy VS.Net 20003 Pro qualified by someone who is in 1st grade!!!

HTH,
Kev

 

[Pat Hartman]

Free Office Pro 2003

Here's an opportunity to obtain a FREE copy of Office Pro 2003. Attend one of the TS2 seminars in your area. You sit through a 4-hour presentation and Microsoft gives you a certificate redeemable for Office Pro 2003. I know it says "some" software on the website but I registered and they told me what the "some" was. Other freebe's I have gotten at these seminars - Windows XP Pro, Visio Pro, Beta version of all 2003 products, certificate for 6-hour class at CompUSA. Plus you get to do a little networking.

http://www.connect-ms.com/msts2/default.html

 

[Kevin_S]

Thanks for the link Pat! I just signed up....

Regards,
Kevin

 

[Cosmos75]

THANK YOU, PAT!
Am gonna sign up as they have one here in Tulsa, OK!

 

[chewy]

do they do these seminars on other days other than Tuesdays and Thursdays? It's kind of hard to leave work to go to this.

 

[Cosmos75]

do they do these seminars on other days other than Tuesdays and Thursdays? It's kind of hard to leave work to go to this.

The one here is on a Thursday.


But I can just either take a half-day off or work extra hours to make up for that day.
&

But the free software is too good to miss out on!

 

[Cosmos75]

Here's an opportunity to obtain a FREE copy of Office Pro 2003. Attend one of the TS2 seminars in your area. You sit through a 4-hour presentation and Microsoft gives you a certificate redeemable for Office Pro 2003. I know it says "some" software on the website but I registered and they told me what the "some" was. Other freebe's I have gotten at these seminars - Windows XP Pro, Visio Pro, Beta version of all 2003 products, certificate for 6-hour class at CompUSA. Plus you get to do a little networking.

http://www.connect-ms.com/msts2/default.html

From TechTV's Screen Savers website

Free Microsoft Office Professional or Small Business Edition

Are you looking for a free copy of Office but you don't want to go to jail? Just attend the Microsoft TS2 seminar and you get a copy for free. It's a half-day event but well worth it for a free copy of Office. If you're not looking to get Office for free, you can pick up Small Business Server 2003 Premium Edition, or Virtual PC instead.

Update (1/23/04): Microsoft has been swamped with registrations for the TS2 seminar, and it has contacted me to say that the seminar isn't for everyone. The TS2 seminars are geared towards technology providers who want to learn about Microsoft business products, certification programs, and network with other professionals.

Note: Just tried to sign up but I need to give an Organization and Organization Address, what do I put there? Not going for my company, but personal interest. Would a lot of what they will talk about be over my head? Anything in Office is fine for me but beyond that? Plus, I not much for networking.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

Given that every other version of Access seems to be riddled with bugs, you might like to wait until 2005

Surly that's a missprint, did you mean 2500???

 

[Kevin_S]

Cosmos -

When Pat initially informed everyone of the TS2 seminar in her post of this thread a few days ago I immediately signed up and registered. I am attending the TS2 seminar in Lansing, Michigan next Tuesday (Feb. 3rd). I will report back how it went and wether or not it was any value information wise on wednesday. I read the bio for the seminar adn I think the information on certification will be interesting...

Some what off topic - I have heard horror stories of people trying to load Office 2003 with previous versions of office (not so much xp but more so with office 97) so if your still working on 97 I would caution against it. For more info on this check out this thread here

I also want to check out the new code "certification" as I hear this is a MAJOR pain in the you-know-what... For those that don't know - new to A' 2003 everytime you (or a user) opens a db they will get a message asking them if they want to allow code to run

I'll let you know what I find out,
Kev