Last days to save hundreds on Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Microsoft Corp. next week will begin shipping the first copies of its much-anticipated Office 2008 productivity suite for the Mac, meaning there are just over three days left to take advantage of the company's "Super Suite Deal" that offers savings of up to $370 on the software.



Come Macworld Expo on January 15th, Office 2008 for Mac will be available in three distinct editions ranging from an entry level $150 Home and Student Edition to a high-end $500 Special Media Edition.



However, Microsoft is still running its "Super Suite Deal" promotion, which allows customers to purchase the current $330 Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Standard edition or the current $130 Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher edition and then receive the $500 Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for only the cost of shipping and handling.



To take advantage of this offer, simply purchase Office 2004 for Mac Standard Edition ($330) or Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition ($130) from an authorized reseller like Amazon.com by January 14th. (Your receipt must be dated between Nov. 1, 2007 and Jan. 14, 2008.) Then print and complete the Super Suite Deal Redemption Form [pdf].



Those customers who participate in the promotion and return the Super Suite Deal Redemption Form by February 14th, 2008 will receive a copy of Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for the cost of shipping ($7.00 US, $10 CND) once it is released at Macworld.



Microsoft does not appear to be requiring proof that participants who purchase Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition are actually students or teachers. Therefore it appears likely that anyone can purchase the Student and Teach Edition for $130 from Amazon and then receive a copy of the $500 Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for just the cost of shipping and handling.



Those readers interested in Office 2008 for Mac may want to check out AppleInsider's recent Road to Mac Office 2008 series, installments of which are listed below in the order they were published. AppleInsider will also have a formal review of the finalized Office 2008 code in the coming days.



Road to Mac Office 2008: an introduction

Road to Mac Office 2008: installation and interface

Road to Mac Office 2008: Word '08 vs Pages 3.0

Road to Mac Office 2008: Excel '08 vs Numbers 1.0

Road to Mac Office 2008: PowerPoint '08 vs Keynote 4.0

Road to Mac Office 2008: Entourage '08 vs Mail 3.0 and iCal 3.0
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    So what is different about the "special media eddition?" I've got no clue. It would be nice if the article gave the reader that information.
  • Reply 2 of 37
    kasperkasper Posts: 941member, administrator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Flounder View Post


    So what is different about the "special media eddition?" I've got no clue. It would be nice if the article gave the reader that information.



    We linked to our article (THREE DISTINCT EDITIONS) that explained this previously. Check it out here:



    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...rt_at_150.html



    Best,



    K
  • Reply 3 of 37
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kasper View Post


    We linked to our article (THREE DISTINCT EDITIONS) that explained this previously. Check it out here:



    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...rt_at_150.html



    Best,



    K



    This is an insane deal! Here in the US there was a special one day BFD (Big Fine Deal) where if you bought any copy of Office you would get a $100 rebate in addition to the Special Media Edition (or Student Teacher version with 3 licenses) for $6.95 shipping and handling. Let's see a full version of Office for what amounts to $36.95? The program itself is worth close to $500. Not to mention the 2004 version you purchased can be resold if you haven't installed it. Three of us in my family repurchased Office S/T to get this deal.



    My guess is that Microsoft has a huge supply of the 2004 version and this was the best way for them to clear 'em out. I recently got my $100 rebate check for the BFD as well.



    Cheers!

    R
  • Reply 4 of 37
    Haven't been in the loop much about MS Office recently (I'm still quite happy with Office 2K), but I just spoke today with our IT manager today about MS Office 2008 for Windows, and besides the new online collaboration features, he wasn't impressed. They've apparently changed the whole UI - a lot less intuitive than it was. I wonder if the Mac version will show the same flaws...
  • Reply 5 of 37
    I took advantage of this deal on Black Friday and I got my $100 refund check already! Net cost for a full version of office 2008 was $37. Not bad, and no they don't care if you buy the student-teacher addition, which are full version of the programs!



    Great Deal!
  • Reply 6 of 37
    flounderflounder Posts: 2,674member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kasper View Post


    We linked to our article (THREE DISTINCT EDITIONS) that explained this previously. Check it out here:



    http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...rt_at_150.html



    Best,



    K



    It is still poor writing to have an article that hinges on the difference between different editions and not give a basic, brief explanation of what those differences are. This could have easily been accomplished in one sentence, and represents key information that the reader should not have to hunt for. At the very least, the links should be integrated into the forum post (which they are not).
  • Reply 7 of 37
    royboyroyboy Posts: 458member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by tmedia1 View Post


    I took advantage of this deal on Black Friday and I got my $100 refund check already! Net cost for a full version of office 2008 was $37. Not bad, and no they don't care if you buy the student-teacher addition, which are full version of the programs!



    Great Deal!



    I got my $100 back a few days ago and I just now received this email from Microsoft giving now a specific shipping date. My total cost is about $2.50 USD.



    Est. Ship Datet02/04/08

    DescriptiontOFFICE MAC HOME STUDENT 2008 EN DVD (Part No: GZA-00006)

    Qtyt\t\t1

    Pricet\t$0.00

    Ext. Pricet\t$0.00





    SubTotal\t\t$0.00

    Shipping/Handling\t$6.99

    Tax\t\t\t$0.49

    ------------------------------------------

    Total\t\t\t$7.48
  • Reply 8 of 37
    mdcatmdcat Posts: 79member
    I bought a Word 2004 upgrade (from Word 98) on eBay for $10 a couple of years ago.



    I have no need for the rest of the Office package. Does anyone know how and how much

    it would cost to upgrade to Word 2008?
  • Reply 9 of 37
    elrothelroth Posts: 1,201member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Royboy View Post


    My total cost is about $2.50 USD.



    I figure that's just about what it's worth.



    Actually, I thought about the deal at the time (in my case an upgrade from Office 2004 would have been something like $90), but I passed it up because I needed to see how annoying the new interface is. While 2004 has a lot of annoyances, it basically works well for me. The new edition with its ribbons and bows might just be over the top.
  • Reply 10 of 37
    yay! Bring slide-show computing back to the Macintosh platform! That, and we'd like 3GB of buggy software installed in so many places, we'll never be able to remove it all. Oh, and to top it all off, throw in 2000 features we don't want and will never use.
  • Reply 11 of 37
    The offer here in the UK is not as good as the US as I see it. Over here (UK) if you buy the teachers edition you can only upgrade to the Home and Student edition, were in the US you can upgrade to the Media edition. Good old rip-of-Britain.
  • Reply 12 of 37
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nicnac View Post


    yay! Bring slide-show computing back to the Macintosh platform! That, and we'd like 3GB of buggy software installed in so many places, we'll never be able to remove it all. Oh, and to top it all off, throw in 2000 features we don't want and will never use.



    That would actually apply a lot better to Adobe than to Microsoft at this point. I'm happily running without Office here on my personal machine, but I use Office on my work Mac all the time, and it isn't nearly that bad. It actually installs and uninstalls fairly easily. From the looks of the new version, based on the great articles provided here a few weeks ago, the new version will be even better, with native Intel support and support for the new file formats.



    Not saying I'll be buying Office for my personal use. And not saying that I don't hate Microsoft with every fiber of my being. I just thought your comment was a little over the top.



    But, like I said, it's pretty appropriate for Adobe's CS3 disaster.
  • Reply 13 of 37
    It might be a good dollar deal - but at home I really have no need for anything other than the basic office to begin with. The standard and super-deluxe editions really don't add anything I need. I don't use exchange at home. I don't use automator enough to want to automate anything in Office. So that knocks out the 'standard' edition. I don't even have a clue as to what expression media is to pay hundreds to get it. (the MS web site won't even tell me about unless I install some other MS plug in just to see the web site - WTF??



    The cheapo home edition will do me just fine... Interesting to see MS is encouraging everyone to 'illegally' buy the student edition, eh?
  • Reply 14 of 37
    I wanted to take advantage of the MacOffice SuperSuite Deal, so I purchased an Office 2004 copy. Now, I have to decide which of these TWO offers I want to get for the $6.99:



    OPTION ONE: Send me Office 2008 for Mac Special Media

    Edition (includes 1 license for business or personal use, also includes Exchange Server support , additional Automator Actions plus Microsoft Expression Media for Mac)



    OR



    OPTION TWO: Send me Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition (includes 3 licenses for home or non-commercial use only; does NOT include Exchange

    Server support or Automator Actions) + Microsoft Expression Media for Mac



    Dollar-wise the first option is worth $499.0 and the second is $149.00

    License-wise, I can install the latter on three Macs but can this version be upgraded down the road.



    Additionally,

    What are the pro's and con's for each choice, features-wise?

    Thanks
  • Reply 15 of 37
    royboyroyboy Posts: 458member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnmcboston View Post


    It might be a good dollar deal - but at home I really have no need for anything other than the basic office to begin with. The standard and super-deluxe editions really don't add anything I need. I don't use exchange at home. I don't use automator enough to want to automate anything in Office. So that knocks out the 'standard' edition. I don't even have a clue as to what expression media is to pay hundreds to get it. (the MS web site won't even tell me about unless I install some other MS plug in just to see the web site - WTF??



    The cheapo home edition will do me just fine... Interesting to see MS is encouraging everyone to 'illegally' buy the student edition, eh?





    Can you show me in print, by the actions of Microsoft, someone could be breaking the law and could possibly go to jail ?
  • Reply 16 of 37
    royboyroyboy Posts: 458member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BuffyzDead View Post


    I wanted to take advantage of the MacOffice SuperSuite Deal, so I purchased an Office 2004 copy. Now, I have to decide which of these TWO offers I want to get for the $6.99:



    OPTION ONE: Send me Office 2008 for Mac Special Media

    Edition (includes 1 license for business or personal use, also includes Exchange Server support , additional Automator Actions plus Microsoft Expression Media for Mac)



    OR



    OPTION TWO: Send me Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition (includes 3 licenses for home or non-commercial use only; does NOT include Exchange

    Server support or Automator Actions) + Microsoft Expression Media for Mac



    Dollar-wise the first option is worth $499.0 and the second is $149.00

    License-wise, I can install the latter on three Macs but can this version be upgraded down the road.



    Additionally,

    What are the pro's and con's for each choice, features-wise?

    Thanks



    I went with the Home Edition because I don't see were I would be using the "extra stuff" and I don't think of "media rich stuff" when I think of Microsoft. And I can put the Home edition on 3 computers.
  • Reply 17 of 37
    chabigchabig Posts: 641member
    This is not as good a deal as some think. If you purchase the Student Teacher 2004 edition right now with 3 licenses, when you take advantage of the upgrade offer you will have 1 licensed 2008 edition.
  • Reply 18 of 37
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chabig View Post


    This is not as good a deal as some think. If you purchase the Student Teacher 2004 edition right now with 3 licenses, when you take advantage of the upgrade offer you will have 1 licensed 2008 edition.



    If you buy S&T 2004 at $150 in order to get SME 2008 for $7, then you've saved $343. You could even repeat the process two more times and get three licenses for $471. That's $29 less than the retail price for ONE license of SME 2008.
  • Reply 19 of 37
    chabigchabig Posts: 641member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by geekdreams View Post


    If you buy S&T 2004 at $150 in order to get SME 2008 for $7, then you've saved $343. You could even repeat the process two more times and get three licenses for $471. That's $29 less than the retail price for ONE license of SME 2008.



    That's an interesting analysis. I have never considered Office to be worth $500. But for those who do, the current offer is a good deal after all.
  • Reply 20 of 37
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by chabig View Post


    That's an interesting analysis. I have never considered Office to be worth $500. But for those who do, the current offer is a good deal after all.



    I wouln't think that MS thinks that it's worth $500 either, which is why they seemingly slash the price with this offer.

    But it basically looks like MS wants to stuff as many computers as possible with Office. Would they by worrying for some reason ?
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