Microsoft's Sneaky Halloween Trick for Office 2010 Beta Users

Microsoft's Sneaky Halloween Trick for Office 2010 Beta Users

by Tony Isaacs

Computers users across the United States who took Microsoft up on their highly promoted offer to download a beta copy of Microsoft Office 2010 during the past year woke up to a nasty morning-after Halloween surprise: When Microsoft expired the free trial, not only did it make all the Beta Office 2010 software programs non-functional, it also left users without their previous versions of the Microsoft Office software programs.

Throughout the past year, Microsoft has been promoting Office 2010 as the greatest thing since sliced toast for computer users and has publicized the free beta version trial offer far and wide, including direct email campaigns.  Though they may have had some information about the unpleasant little catch that would occur if beta users failed to purchase retail product before the beat expired, such information was not widely revealed amongst all the hoopla about the free trial offer.  As a result, untold numbers of beta Office 2010 users likely found themselves scrambling to restore essential programs that their homes and businesses depended on - such as Microsoft's Word, Excel, PowerPoint, One Note, Access and/or Publisher.

For many users, the consequences meant only the hassle of having to remove the no longer functional Office 2010 program and then reloading their previous MS Office programs. The really big problem is for all the users who no longer have the software for those programs - for example, computer owners and users who had new or second-hand computers with pre-loaded software but not the software disks and those who may have had the software but had misplaced or lost it.

Of course Microsoft has a solution. Simply buy a new copy of MS Office 2010 or else a previous version such as MS Office 2007, and they will be glad to sell those to you. The catch: The most desirable program suite, Office Professional 2010 costs $499 when purchased directly from Microsoft. Office Home and Business 2010 costs $279 and does not include MS Publisher or MS Access.

Before you decide to part with your hard earned money to make such large donations to Microsoft's coffers, there are other options which can save you a lot of money. For example, if your computer has one of the MS emblems on it with a serial number, you can simply find someone who does have the software for the same version of MS Office and use the serial number on your emblem to activate the program and restore your previous MS Office software and be completely legitimate.

Alternatively, you can do a Google search for "Microsoft Office 2010" and find many online sites where you can purchase a fully functional and licensed version of Microsoft Office 2010 for a fraction of the price Microsoft charges. If you happen to be a student or work at an academic institution, you can get Microsoft Office 2010 Pro for only $79. Non-academics can find the software at prices as little as $99. The complete Office Pro 2007 can be purchased by anyone for as little as $79.