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1. Microsoft Word Purchase Options For Dummies
2. Microsoft Word Free Download
3. Purchase Microsoft Word Program
4. Microsoft Word Purchase Options Online

Update: In the meantime, Microsoft has officially released Office 2016, which replaced the 2013 edition.

• Surface Go comes with a single month of Office 365 Home. If you buy a Surface device, take advantage of the ‘free’ month but don’t get caught paying high prices. Microsoft uses that ‘free’ Office 365 option to trick customers into more expensive options like monthly payments or buying annual Office 365 direct from Microsoft.
• Save when you get Word with Microsoft 365. With Microsoft 365 you get Word plus Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and 1TB cloud storage per person for all your files, music, photos, videos and more. Share and collaborate with others across all your devices.

Microsoft Office is world’s most popular productivity software suite. On the other side, Microsoft’s Windows is the most used operating system for PCs. In this post, we’ll explain what options are available when it comes to Office use under the latest version of OS – Windows 10. Besides the old-school Microsoft Office suites, free Office Online web service, and free open source replacements for Office, in Windows 10 users now have a new option – touch-optimized “Universal” Office apps.

Windows 10 & Traditional Laptop-Use Microsoft Office 2013; Office 365

Best suited for classic laptop and desktop PCs with Windows 10 and previous OS iterations is the current Office 2013 edition. This keyboard-and-mouse-centric “desktop” version is available as a one-time-purchase package, such as for instance Office 2013 Home & Student edition ($139) or as a suite delivered via Office 365 subscription service (starting at $6.99 per month). In both cases, Office 2013 is fully compatible with Windows 10. We have tried it out and found no problems so far. As a side note, although Office 2013 is keyboard/mouse-oriented, it can be made more touch-friendly by increasing spaces between menu items and other elements of programs’ user interfaces.

If you haven’t purchased any of these yet and you want to, it’s worth mentioning some of the differences between the Office 2013 “buy” and “rent” options. As already mentioned, if you buy it you’ll be charged only once at the time of the purchase, but then you’re stuck with the current version of the suite until you buy the new one. With Office 2013 delivered via 365 service, you “rent” it for a monthly fee. Once a new version of software gets released your edition can be automatically upgraded to it without additional fees. Furthermore, it’s important to note that Office 365 (Personal and Home) packages include a robust set of applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access. On the other side, the classic Home & Student 2013 edition lacks Outlook, Publisher and Access programs. Furthermore, even the most basic Office 365 subscription allows you to install software on multiple devices – on up to 1 PC or Mac, 1 tablet, and 1 smartphone. The standard Office Home & Student can be installed on only 1 PC.

Both options are available via Microsoft’s official store.

Modern Touch-Friendly (“Mobile”) Office Apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote

Microsoft has recently launched a new set of Office apps. Following the trends in the PC industry, new Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote apps available on Windows Store have touch-friendly interfaces. That’s the main difference of these Windows 10-specific “Universal” apps over the old-school keyboard/mouse Office versions. Nevertheless, you can use the apps even if you don’t have a touchscreen computer, by working with a keyboard and mouse/trackpad. On the negative side, Microsoft has removed some functionalities which are present in the “full” versions of the apps, in order to make document creation and editing more straightforward and simpler.

If you have a laptop, 2-in-1, tablet, or any other kind of PC running Windows 10 and want to install these apps, just hit the Windows Store and search for Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. OneNote is by-default pre-installed on Win 10 systems. On devices with display sizes above 10.1″, the apps are listed in the Store with “Mobile” suffix, except OneNote. If you access the Store on a Windows 10 device with a screen of 10.1″ or smaller, the apps are simply listed as Word, Excel, PowerPoint… Except the names, the apps are the same. Screen size matters in one more important way. If you’re using a 10.1″ or smaller device, the apps are free to use with full editing functionality enabled. If you have a larger-screen PC, unrestricted use of “Mobile” Office apps requires an active Office 365 subscription. Otherwise, you can use the apps for document viewing, but not for creation and editing.

Office 2016 Preview

Microsoft is currently working on Office 2016, successor of Office 2013. Although it isn’t a finished product yet, you can use it as a preview (“beta”) software. Office 2016 Preview is free of charge and will remain free until the final release. It’s scheduled for September 2015. You can download it now as a standalone installation from Microsoft’s website. Also, you can upgrade your Office 2013 to 2016 Preview if you use the older version as a part of Office 365 pay-per-month service.

Old Office Editions

Out of curiosity, we have installed under Windows 10 an almost 15-year old Microsoft Office – the XP Professional Edition. Although it doesn’t sport newer features such as tight integration with Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage service or advanced collaboration functionalities, Office XP Pro works just fine under Windows 10. So, if you still want use an old suite, chances are it will work under Windows 10 as good as under Windows 7, 8.1, or other old Windows versions. A problem might be differences between old Office file formats, such as the old Word’s .doc as opposed to newer .docx. Opening older files in newer Office programs might need converting and produce improper formatting of documents. Even worse, you won’t be able to open a .docx file in XP Pro’s Word at all. The same applies to other Office applications.

Microsoft Office Online – Web-Based and Free of Charge

There’s another Microsoft Office version – Office Online. It’s web-based. The most popular applications – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote are completely free. After a single login to http://home.office.com using any modern web browser, users can create, edit, and view Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, work in OneNote, or check emails via online Outlook version. True, there are some limitations, since the Online apps can’t work without Internet connection and lack some functionalities of their “offline” siblings. Also, working with user interfaces through a web browser isn’t as smooth as with locally installed programs.

If you’re OK with doing your office work online, you can also use Google’s counterpart called Google Docs.

Free Open-Source Microsoft Office Alternatives – LibreOffice, Apache OpenOffice

If you however want a completely free “offline” productivity solution, you can try some of the available open source-based suites. On our Windows 10 test laptop, we have easily managed to install and run two most popular free productivity suites – LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice. These keyboard-and-mouse-optimized software suites can be used for word processing, work with spreadsheets, presentations, databases, and other productivity tasks. Their applications are mostly compatible with Microsoft Office document formats, so chances are you’ll be able to edit your Word, Excel, and other documents using the open source replacement programs without problems.

Microsoft Office is something that most students, working professionals, and entrepreneurs will buy at some point in their lives. While these software programs seem to be abundant in nature, they are very easy to overpaid for. Buying Microsoft Office at a discounted price is something that everyone can appreciate. Read these five simple tips to learn how to save.

• Take Advantage of Student Discount Prices

If you’re a student, then you more than likely are going to need to get the best software you can to do well in your classes. But if you’re a student, you are also likely running on a very tight budget, and the cost of software can quickly add up. Fortunately, there are several places online where you can take advantage of your status as a student and save big on software costs. Getting a student discount on Microsoft software is easy; most online retailers will ask you to show proof of your status as a student by just simply entering your student ID number, scanning your student ID, or by some other simple form of validation.

But many online retailers won’t even go this far. All you might need to do is check a box that says “Student” and you will immediately be eligible to receive massive discounts of software. Because of this, even if you are not a student—per se—you can still take advantage of these great discounts by simply checking a box. After all, we are all at least studying something, right?

2.) Check out Office.com and Office Mobile Apps

If you are really restrained by your budget, there are still ways you can save even further. Many components of Microsoft Office can be found for free online, though they will limited in features. If you comfortable working with simplified versions of Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other components of Microsoft Office, all of these can be accessed for free on Office.com.

Because these versions are free, they are missing many of the more advanced features. They are not the complete package, rather, they are more like a downloadable version of Google Docs you can use as needed. But if you are like many people and consider these advanced features to be a luxury, then the free online version will be the perfect option for you. Furthermore, you can also access these simplified versions for free through the Office Mobile Apps. These apps are perfect for if you are on the go and need to get a project done, or are still just looking to take advantage of as much free software as you possibly can.

3.) Consider Getting an Office 365 subscription

If the free online versions of Microsoft Office simply will not cut it, then getting an Office 365 subscription is going to probably be the best solution. Though these subscriptions can be a little bit pricy, there are still numerous ways you can bring down the overall cost or at least bring down the cost you will have to pay per month.

• Buy long-term. Buying long-term will require a greater commitment up-front, but the longer you buy a subscription for, the lower the monthly rate will be.
• Buy in bulk. If you are a part of an organization that requires multiple Microsoft Office 365 subscriptions or if you are willing to organize a group of friends with common needs, then you can save a substantial amount of money per unit by buying in bulk.
• Take advantage of discounts. Online retailers and other software providers are very eager to get you to purchase your software subscriptions through them, and because of this, they are almost always offering sales, discounts, and other ways to save.

4.) Compare the subscription option to a one-time purchase

If you are satisfied with the current state of Microsoft software, and believe that whatever it exists as right now will be good enough to last you into the foreseeable future, then you may want to take advantage of the option to make a one-time purchase option. By doing this, Microsoft will essentially take a “snap shot” of what you have purchased at a given point in time, and whatever that purchase may be, it is associated with your name.

Microsoft Word Purchase Options For Dummies

The one-time purchase option was an option introduced by Microsoft in response to a growing number of customers who were very vocally against the idea of subscription services, such as those mentioned above. These customers decided they already liked what they had, and therefore, did not feel it was fair to keep having to pay for new/updated software as time went on. The benefit of this option is that you only make a single payment. From there you are set with quality Microsoft software for theoretically the rest of your life. The biggest drawback, however, is that you do not get to take advantage of the upgrades and improvements made with each additional version of the software, and though with each version these changes may seem marginal, over time, they can quickly add up (compare current software to, say, 2008).

5.) Be sure to buy from a licensed Microsoft partner

When it comes to buying discount software online—or elsewhere—you certainly have a lot of options available, and because of this, it becomes particularly important to distinguish which online retailers are indeed the very best. Microsoft is a corporation that uniquely seeks to distribute its products through a partnership modeled system, and though there are many organizations that may be attempting to offer you Microsoft software, only some of these organizations are legitimately Microsoft partners.

Microsoft Word Free Download

There are a number of benefits from buying software exclusively from Microsoft partners:

Purchase Microsoft Word Program

• In-depth knowledge of savings opportunities. Microsoft partners know a lot about their products, and in order to offer you the best deals you will find on the internet, they will direct you to potential savings opportunities you may have otherwise never even imagined. Buying discount software online is an art, and Microsoft partners are their own sort of artists.
• Guaranteed security and legitimacy. There are a number of illegitimate websites online that exist for the sole purpose of gaining your credit card information, selling you counterfeit products, or finding various other ways to permanently rip you off. Only by working with licensed Microsoft partners can you be absolutely sure to avoid these potential (and sadly common) traps.
• Substantial understanding of Microsoft products. Nobody knows Microsoft products better than those who are certified to distribute them, and this can be particularly helpful if you are unfamiliar with the contracts, the conditions, or the products themselves.
• Continuous customer support. One of the great things about working with official Microsoft partners as that even after you make your purchase, they will continue to be there to assist you as long as you might need their help. Having a reliable customer support system available will be a uniquely valuable asset if you plan on using the software for a long time.

Microsoft Office is a great software package that if you are a student or businessperson will certainly come in handy. These tips are just a few ways in which you can buy your product securely, confidently, and with the greatest amount of savings possible.

Microsoft Word Purchase Options Online