Customer Reviews

Microsoft Office Student and Teacher 2003: NA Only

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Using this product means that it will be very hard, if not impossible, to share your documents, in a satisfactory way, with non-Office users. Think about it. It's bad.

Anyone who uses Outlook and/or reads documents on the screen in Word needs this upgrade! Outlook 2003 improvements includes: removal of the 2 GB PST file limit; a much improved user-interface; intelligent and fully customizable junk mail filtering; much better security features (e.g., inline pictures are not automatically downloaded, but you can specify senders and domains to block or accept); automatic caching of Exchange mailboxes; and easier access to other people's shared folders (e.g., calendars). Word 2003 has a new on-screen reading feature that makes it easier to read Word documents like electronic books (e.g., you can change the text size for reading without affecting the font size in the underlying document). All applications are significantly faster (support for Windows 9x/ME/NT4 was dropped), integration with SharePoint Services is wonderful, and new features like Digital Rights Management are interesting.

Big disappointment. I bought Office 2003 with the hopes that Microsoft would have made significant improvements to Outlook 2000. Huh! Outlook is almost exactly the same as the previous version, only with a prettier (and busier) interface. One still cannot enter simple reminders w/o keying them in as appointments. At least the LDAP problem appears to have been fixed. Word and Excel don't appear to have any significant changes either but I haven't spent much time using them yet.

It was hard for me when I originally made the transition from WordPerfect to MS Word/Office, but once I did I never looked back.

The Students and Teachers edition is an excellent value as it contains 4 full versions of programs that cost more individually than you'd pay for this entire bundle.

The catch? First, by installing the software you are agreeing that you are a student or teacher engaged somehow in academia (no, they won't send people to your house to check...it's an honor system kind of thing). The other catch, and the one to really pay attention to, is that you can't upgrade these programs like you could if you purchased the individual program or one of the other Office bundles. This means that if a Word 2004 upgrade becomes available one day you could not install it to upgrade the version of Word that comes with this bundle. You'd either have to buy the next edition of the Students and Teachers bundle or purchase another full version of Word (either in one of the other bundles that Microsoft Offers at substantially more than the S&T edition or as the stand alone program which still costs more that the S&T edition).

Small price to pay, however, as the money you save in obtaining the Students and Teachers edition will still allow you to buy upcoming versions for generations to come and you'd still come out ahead as this bundle is such a great deal.

For the end user, this is the best Office suite on the market. The functionality and rock solid stability make this a home run.

The key to Microsoft's software is that it just works, it will increase your productivity, skills and overall pc activity. You will be very please with this product, I have used them all. I am sold on MS Office...

I'm waiting for the day when software becomes more expensive than the actual hardware to run it (it should happen soon, considering the trend in computer prices these days, right??). In the meantime, I'm happy that Microsoft at least offers a lower-priced version of their software for those pursuing academic endeavors.

The Microsoft Office Student and Teacher Edition 2003 is basically identical to their standard Microsoft Office 2003. It contains:
- Excel 2003
- Outlook 2003
- Powerpoint 2003
- Word 2003

What it does NOT contain (compared with the professional and small business versions) is Access 2003, Publisher 2003 and the Outlook 2003 version that has a Business Contact Manager - none of which would be particularly necessary for students.

Microsoft stresses that this version of their Office 2003 is only for non-commercial use. You qualify for this edition so long as you are 1) a full- or part-time student enrolled in a K-12 institution, 2) home-schooled, 3) taking at least 6 credits at an accredited college/university, or 4) a full- or part-time faculty member and work 20+ hours at a school.

It retails at the amazon price, which seems like a lot until you remember that the Standard version is sold for over two hundred dollars more. There is no discounted upgrade price for the academic version, but this is still probably the best price you can get. AND you can use the software on up to three computers, so long as someone in your household qualifies (for instance, if you have a child who qualifies for this version, you can upload it onto your computer as well and use the software even if you do not qualify for the discount).

If you are a college/university student, I would suggest visiting your school bookstore before purchasing this software. Microsoft offers academic volume licensing through a lot of colleges/universities, where you can get the same software for up to 70% off if you qualify. Check out [microsoft website] for more information.

I've installed the suite, and have had no end of troubles. Word 2003 will not open any of my old Word documents. My PC locks up, I can't access older files, and when I try to get updates from Microsoft, Internet Exolorer ceases to function. Not recommended, if you have an older version of Office.