Expert: Scottgem - 4/30/2008

Question
Hello, I'm hoping you can help me. My college student daughter needs the folowing programs for her classes this year:
Microsoft word
microsoft access
microsoft excel
microsoft powerpoint
We've been looking into the microsoft office professional software but the price is around $400 at Staples, Office max, even Walmart!
We did see one advertised online (Softwareking) for $207 but it is the "AE" version. It says it is the exact same software as the non-academic version and nothing special is required to purchase or install it. I'd love to get the better price but:
1. I don't want to do anything ilegal
2. I want to be sure we can actually install and use it without a problem.
Have you had any experience with this AE version - or can you at least tell me what it means - acedemic vs. non acedemic versions.
I'd really appreciate any hep you can give me.
Grace

Answer
Why not go to the college bookstore? Yes, Microsoft allows retailers to sell Academic Editions to qualified educators and students at a great discount. These are the same versions as sold to the public, the only difference is they can't be used to get upgrade pricing for the next edition. So if you buy Office 2007, you can't use it to get upgrade pricing for Office 2010 (or whatever the next version will be).

The question is whether she really needs Access. If she does then she needs Office Pro. Otherwise she can go for the Home and Student version which is available at most retailers for about $150.

Hope this helps,
Scott<>
Microsoft Access MVP 2007
Author: MS Office Access 2007 VBA