Microsoft Office and Outlook.

[Gingerbread Man]

My parents want Microsoft Office (mainly Word, Excel, Powerpoint) and they also want Outlook. Now Outlook seems to come separate from the rest of Office as far as I can see?

What is the best buy (cheapest) for the above that can be run on two separate computers?

David

[Vespula]

Outlook usually comes with Office although I believe it can be bought separately. You can buy new copies of MS Office 2003 (with Outlook) with a licence key on eBay for £30 - £50.

One Computer per copy only though.

[MarkK]

Or just download Open Office and Thunderbird for free?

[Kinky]

MarkK said:

Or just download Open Office and Thunderbird for free?

Have to agree. And all for free

[Gingerbread Man]

They have used Microsoft programs throughout their working life and are quite comfortable and happy with it. Due to this I think they'll want to stay with it.

Are the ebay Office 2003 programs likely to be hooky? The last thing I want to do is have an unofficial program which might get caught out leaving them in trouble.

[miniman]

MarkK said:

Or just download Open Office and Thunderbird for free?

Open Office maybe, but Thunderbird is hateful. Much better off IMHO managing all mail through a Gmail account.

[Vespula]

Gingerbread Man said:

They have used Microsoft programs throughout their working life and are quite comfortable and happy with it. Due to this I think they'll want to stay with it.

Are the ebay Office 2003 programs likely to be hooky? The last thing I want to do is have an unofficial program which might get caught out leaving them in trouble.

I have recently bought XP and Office cheaply from eBay. Both were genuine and installed and validated OK. If you go down that route confirm with the seller that you get a valid licence and study their feedback closely. Worked for me anyway.