Microsoft Office 2011 Student for Mac, under £40!

thedrumdoctor

There's a Mac in the house, it's my daughter's and she needed Office for school work.

If you don't mind a downloaded version (no physical media) then head on over to:

http://www.365professionals.com/store/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=29

This is an American site but they sell to the UK and there appears to be nothing illegal about buying an official software download with activation.

After sales tax, and dollar to pound conversion, it appears I have the suite for just £33.

After downloading the dmg file and burning it onto DVD, it installed onto my daughter's Macbook and activated, no problem.

All legal, all working!

macman

No physical contact address on that site...

railbuff

macman wrote: »

No physical contact address on that site...

true which makes me thing are the licences legit for that price, they may work for a while until MS do a genuine scan and you get back screens and nasty messages telling you have a fake licence and pay our dafy OTT price for a genuine licence.

I use http://software4students.com/ which sell genuine licences at student rates

thedrumdoctor

I hear your concerns but all seems to check out:

They are a Microsoft Business Partner

http://www.partnerpoint.com/Company-Directory/Detail/True/UserID/23905.aspx

From their website:

"365 Professionals is a licensed corporation based in Michigan. We have additional sister locations in both Las Vegas and New York where our physical goods and other inventory are warehoused and shipped from around the clock."

Their New York address:


[FONT=&quot]365 Professionals Group[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]200 East 66th Street, #4004
New York, New York 10016
United States [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Phone:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]855-365-3653[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Fax:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]855-365-3654[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Website:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]365professionals.com[/FONT]


Their Michigan address:

836 Williamsbury Ct.
Suite #394
Waterford Michigan 48328
United States

My download came from the Digital River website, who are official MS software distribution agents.

The activation key worked no problem on-line and the activation nag will no doubt come back in 15 days time if it's not genuine. Having encountered hooky MS software in the recent past, I can confirm that most pirate activation process' avoid at all costs 'phoning home'.

The cheapness possibly is because it's:

a.) An American price.

b.) A download without physical media.

c.) Student edition.

My only concerns would be whether or not it breaks Microsoft's rules about selling downloadable software to non-US countries and if so, what support options there may be.

I guess that 356 Professionals Group may possibly be selling below MS' RRP for the software - or they may not be, considering it is a download.

If it does nag for activation in 15 days time then I will come back on here and concede that I have been scammed.

But so far, my gut instinct are that no laws have been broken.

Adobe have an entirely different stance on this.

Adobe have no qualms whatsoever about stating that their products retail for more in Europe than the US and how it breaks their licensing rules should anyone in the US try and offer their software as a digital download for European customers.

Furthermore, they have also stated that anyone from Europe who buys their physical software in America at the cheaper price, comes back to Europe and installs it and uses it in Europe, will not be eligible for Adobe support or upgrades.

My Adobe information comes from PC Pro magazine who challenged them over this issue in one of their features and reported on Adobes brazen and somewhat weak justification for charging European customers more for their software.

colin79666

This is far too cheap to be 100% legit. It looks like they might be selling technet or msdn keys. While the software will download from Microsoft and probably activate, that doesn't make it OK with the licensing terms or mean it won't fail activation down the line.

Ask yourself this - if it was compliant with the licensing why don't other retailers offer the same? Also they are hiding their address, company number etc which sets off alarm bells.

They appear to be selling Office 2013 which hasn't been released to retail yet (only on msdn, technet and to volume license customers) so they can't be legit.

Bollotom

Phoning Microsoft here might be a good way to go. As said, you don't want to find later that you have a hooky copy. :-)

railbuff

thedrumdoctor wrote: »

They are a Microsoft Business Partner

http://www.partnerpoint.com/Company-Directory/Detail/True/UserID/23905.aspx

Who says, they say on a site they just pay a membership fee to join and add their own details to what they want to write. I dare say to be a MS busines partner they would need a professional website displaying their full address and contact details and an official badge to show level of MS partnership. which they fail on all points.

railbuff

colin79666 wrote: »

They appear to be selling Office 2013 which hasn't been released to retail yet (only on msdn, technet and to volume license customers) so they can't be legit.

exactly the nearest you will get to Office 2013 is sites like http://www.software4students.co.uk/products/microsoft-office-home-and-student-2010 where office 2010 is £85 with a FREE upgrade to 2013 when released.

Willing2Learn

If you want to ensure you are getting a fully licensed copy then only follow links provided within the Microsoft UK Education page.

thedrumdoctor

After all the replies, I'm putting my purchase to the test.

I have contacted Microsoft and submitted details under their counterfeit software reporting facility. Now we'll soon find out what's going on because there is obviously a grey area here.

I reiterate, I don't actually suspect (but am prepared to be proved wrong!) that the transaction or software I have downloaded is any way illegal.

If anything, I believe that 365 Professionals are exploiting a possible loophole in the selling of downloaded software on-line.

Obviously, it's a no-brainer that with exchange rates being what they are, you are always going to get cheaper software prices in the US and as I pointed out earlier, Adobe specifically state that they will not offer their US downloadable software to European or non-US IP addresses or non-US registered credit cards.

Downloadable software is always cheaper than software supplied with physical media, so to see it cheap on a US site isn't that unusual.

Looking at the MS UK website, it's clear they want UK customers to buy from a UK outlet - but there's no Adobe style warning saying that UK customers cannot purchase downloadable software from the US.

I'm now intrigued to hear Microsoft's stance on this and to find out if I have unknowingly broken any laws. But I suspect it'll be 356 Professionals bending the rules about downloadable software.

Watch this space...

johnnyboyrebel

thedrumdoctor wrote: »

After all the replies, I'm putting my purchase to the test.

I have contacted Microsoft and submitted details under their counterfeit software reporting facility. Now we'll soon find out what's going on because there is obviously a grey area here.

I reiterate, I don't actually suspect (but am prepared to be proved wrong!) that the transaction or software I have downloaded is any way illegal.

If anything, I believe that 365 Professionals are exploiting a possible loophole in the selling of downloaded software on-line.

Obviously, it's a no-brainer that with exchange rates being what they are, you are always going to get cheaper software prices in the US and as I pointed out earlier, Adobe specifically state that they will not offer their US downloadable software to European or non-US IP addresses or non-US registered credit cards.

Downloadable software is always cheaper than software supplied with physical media, so to see it cheap on a US site isn't that unusual.

Looking at the MS UK website, it's clear they want UK customers to buy from a UK outlet - but there's no Adobe style warning saying that UK customers cannot purchase downloadable software from the US.

I'm now intrigued to hear Microsoft's stance on this and to find out if I have unknowingly broken any laws. But I suspect it'll be 356 Professionals bending the rules about downloadable software.

Watch this space...

I agree with you, getting a downloaded copy of software cannot be compared in price to receiving a disc as clearly it will be much cheaper, in addition the fact it is is from the US again can mean a more discounted price.

Let us know what Microsoft say, it would be interesting to know.