Free Office 2010 Upgrades for New Office 2007 Customers

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 09 Mar 2010

Remember when Microsoft was getting ready to release Windows 7 last year? Microsoft knew that people might put off their purchase for when Windows 7 would be rolled out; so it launched the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program. Basically, Microsoft said that if you purchase a qualifying Vista version, you could upgrade to Windows 7 free of charge once the operating system is launched. Buy Vista Home Premium, and upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium once it reaches GA (General Availability) status.

As the development process of Office 2010 is moving forward (Office 2010 Beta downloads went live back in November) and we’re getting closer and closer to the release of a final, stable version of the productivity suite, Microsoft is doing with Office 2010 the same thing it did with Windows 7. Microsoft announced that if you purchase Office 2007 between March 5th and September 30th, you qualify for a free Office 2010 upgrade – when the productivity suite is released to the market of course (expected to happen this June).

The available upgrade paths are:
  • Office Ultimate 2007 –> Office Professional 2010
  • Office Professional 2007 –> Office Professional 2010
  • Office Small Business 2007 -> Office Professional 2010
  • Office Standard 2007 -> Office Home and Business 2010
  • Office Home and Student 2007 –> Office Home and Student 2010
  • Office Basic 2007 –> Office Home and Business 2010
  • Word 2007 –> Word 2010
  • Excel 2007 –> Excel 2010
  • PowerPoint 2007 –> PowerPoint 2010
  • OneNote 2007 –> OneNote 2010
  • Access 2007 –> Access 2010
  • Outlook 2007 –> Outlook 2010
  • Outlook with Business Contact Manager 2007 –> Outlook 2010
  • Project Standard 2007 –> Project Standard 2010
  • Project Professional 2007 –> Project Professional 2010
  • Publisher 2007 –> Publisher 2010
  • Visio Standard 2007 –> Visio Standard 2010
  • Visio Professional 2007 –> Visio Professional 2010

You must purchase a qualifying Office 2007 product only from an authorized reseller, and you must comply with some eligibility requirements. Everything you need to know about this offer is nicely put together on the Tech Guarantee site here.

Here’s something you might find amusing: Microsoft capped the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program to 25 free upgrades and it is doing the same with Office 2010. You get one Office 2010 upgrade for one Office 2007 purchase, but no more than 25 per person.

If you’re going to wait it out and purchase Office 2010 once it is released to the public, here is how much you can expect to pay for the productivity suite:

Full Packaged Product Pricing
  • Office Home and Student 2010 - $149
  • Office Home and Business 2010 - $279
  • Office Professional 2010 - $499
  • Office Professional Academic 2010 - $99

Product Key Card Pricing
  • Office Home and Student 2010 - $119
  • Office Home and Business 2010 - $199
  • Office Professional 2010 - $349
  • Office Professional Academic 2010 – N/A

In the meantime, you can download Office 2010 Beta here.


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