Fastsoftware - is it legit?
Discussion
I've got myself a nice new shiny machine that came with a 30day free trial of office 365.
I dont like being tied into things on a monthly basis and would rather buy things outright. I only pay my utilities and mortgage monthly as you have little choice...
So I started looking to buy office and came across fastsoftware.
They seem to have a s
t load of great reviews and a load of jargon on thier site, but it just seems too cheap, around 20% of the cost of buying it through most other places. I know there are free versions of other software available (eg libre), but I'd like MS Office.
Is it too good to be true or is it legitimate?
I dont like being tied into things on a monthly basis and would rather buy things outright. I only pay my utilities and mortgage monthly as you have little choice...
So I started looking to buy office and came across fastsoftware.
They seem to have a s
t load of great reviews and a load of jargon on thier site, but it just seems too cheap, around 20% of the cost of buying it through most other places. I know there are free versions of other software available (eg libre), but I'd like MS Office. Is it too good to be true or is it legitimate?
Fastsoftware are charging ten times the price of some of the Ebay sellers for Office 2016 Pro Plus. These are recycled licences, so all you get is the authorisation key.
They are single PC Licences but work for multiple users on the same PC.
The going rate is £3.00 - £6.00
The key is checked twice by MS, once at the download stage, and the second time at Activation.
I have two of these on my machines, both of them still authorised after six months. I had to re-authorise the first over the phone after changing laptops. Went straight through after being put through to the 'Operative.'
I also bought a new Dell, and re-installed the second Licence. It Activated without needing to phone. Very nice deal for Pro Plus 2016.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microsoft-Office-2016-P...
f:0
They are single PC Licences but work for multiple users on the same PC.
The going rate is £3.00 - £6.00
The key is checked twice by MS, once at the download stage, and the second time at Activation.
I have two of these on my machines, both of them still authorised after six months. I had to re-authorise the first over the phone after changing laptops. Went straight through after being put through to the 'Operative.'
I also bought a new Dell, and re-installed the second Licence. It Activated without needing to phone. Very nice deal for Pro Plus 2016.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Microsoft-Office-2016-P...
f:0Edited by Slushbox on Saturday 24th November 07:00
Slushbox said:
These are recycled licences, so all you get is the authorisation key.
No such thing as "recycled licenses". This has been discussed many times on here before. They are either enterprise or system builder licenses. In either case as a punter off the street it is illegal to use on your own machine.Will it work - yes.
Will you get caught - no (or more likely to get stuck by lightning while having a s
t).Is it illegal to use except under certain very restrictive circumstances - yes.
and before the argument commences - yes they are legal to sell, it is the use that is constrained by the license agreement.
I am not a lawyer, armchair or otherwise. :-)
1) https://www.itassetmanagement.net/2016/10/31/secon...
2) https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/applicati...
3)
1) https://www.itassetmanagement.net/2016/10/31/secon...
2) https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/applicati...
3)
Slushbox said:
I am not a lawyer, armchair or otherwise. :-)
That case is irrelevant here and also has specific conditions that the original medium also be resold.This software is either OEM (System Builder) or volume/enterprise licensing. These are NOT retail licenses that are being resold.
The ruling you quote is all about reselling licenses in their entirety. So for OEM licenses that would mean the hardware it was initially sold with (in order for it to be a valid license in the first case) would also have to come with the license. Are you also getting the hardware?
For volume licenses you can re-sell the volume license, but not individual parts of it. i.e. all or nothing. Have you bought a complete volume license with thousands of seats? If not, then again this ruling doesn't apply.
For your screenshot - what relevance does that have? Being able to authorise the software does not mean it is legally being used.
The contact email address given on the site in OP’s post is at instantsoftwarekeys dot com
This may be worth a read: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.instantsoftwa...
This may be worth a read: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.instantsoftwa...
They aren't legitimate to use, it should be obvious that if MS sell a bonafide legit retail product for e.g. £100 then one being sold for a fraction of that isn't going to be legitimate in terms of licensing.
However Microsoft, like others (Adobe spring to mind) aren't going to be losing much sleep over consumers warezing Office for the most part, because people who have an affinity for Office etc are going to end up driving businesses and enterprise to use these products, and they are the ones paying the big money and can't get away with not licensing properly.
However Microsoft, like others (Adobe spring to mind) aren't going to be losing much sleep over consumers warezing Office for the most part, because people who have an affinity for Office etc are going to end up driving businesses and enterprise to use these products, and they are the ones paying the big money and can't get away with not licensing properly.
If the buyer wants to be completely free of any doubts then an alternative is to buy one of the office 365 key boxes at a discount from some of the well known names. You pay around £60 use the given key to activate and install and your totally legaly lovely for 12 months.Approaching the 12 months you buy another and do the same
Advantages
Its cheaper than paying the monthly fee
If during the 12 months Office 365 changes from office 2016 to office 2019/2020 whatever you get the upgrade free
Disadvantages
Costs more upfront and also after a few years of doing its dearer than buying 2016 forever
Advantages
Its cheaper than paying the monthly fee
If during the 12 months Office 365 changes from office 2016 to office 2019/2020 whatever you get the upgrade free
Disadvantages
Costs more upfront and also after a few years of doing its dearer than buying 2016 forever
RizzoTheRat said:
If you use Office at work try sticking your work email address in to the Microsoft Home User program website to see if your employers are on the scheme. £12 for a genuine version of Office Professional 2019 direct from Microsoft
Better than that, if you use O365 at work as most do, you can install at home for free.Order66 said:
Being able to authorise the software does not mean it is legally being used.
It's not an issue for me. I work on the basis that if Microsoft decide it's not licensed, they can pull the Activation at any time. So far, they haven't. Edited by Slushbox on Sunday 25th November 11:24
Slushbox said:
Order66 said:
Being able to authorise the software does not mean it is legally being used.
It's not an issue for me. I work on the basis that if Microsoft decide it's not licensed, they can pull the Activation at any time. So far, they haven't. Mattt said:
RizzoTheRat said:
If you use Office at work try sticking your work email address in to the Microsoft Home User program website to see if your employers are on the scheme. £12 for a genuine version of Office Professional 2019 direct from Microsoft
Better than that, if you use O365 at work as most do, you can install at home for free.
Countdown said:
Mattt said:
RizzoTheRat said:
If you use Office at work try sticking your work email address in to the Microsoft Home User program website to see if your employers are on the scheme. £12 for a genuine version of Office Professional 2019 direct from Microsoft
Better than that, if you use O365 at work as most do, you can install at home for free.Well I hope ?
Anyway as I understand this your employer can disable you quite easily by removing your access via the admin centre. Basically its as involved as changing your password without informing you. The documents you have such as your shopping list and list of jobs around the house will remain on your PC. However but you will not be able to open them with word and will have to choose an alternative or install a suitable office suite
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/admin/a...
Interestingly Office 365 is still working fine on my laptop 4 months after leaving, but it asks me to log in to my now non existent Onedrive account every time I start the PC.
Technically I think you're supposed to stop using an HUP version when you leave but I've got an old version (2010 I think) from my previous employer that still runs fine on my old desktop.
Technically I think you're supposed to stop using an HUP version when you leave but I've got an old version (2010 I think) from my previous employer that still runs fine on my old desktop.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Sunday 25th November 17:25
techiedave said:
Ah my old friend -not seen your name for a while how are you and yours
Well I hope ?
Cheers Dave, I'm well thank you and hope you are too Well I hope ?
techiedave said:
Anyway as I understand this your employer can disable you quite easily by removing your access via the admin centre. Basically its as involved as changing your password without informing you. The documents you have such as your shopping list and list of jobs around the house will remain on your PC. However but you will not be able to open them with word and will have to choose an alternative or install a suitable office suite
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/admin/a...
Gits https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/admin/a...
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