[ad]Dear Computer Lady,
I bought a 2011 HP.
It has the Microsoft Office Starter 2010.
Is that permanent, or will it have to be bought?
Thank you so much, Hazel
Dear Hazel,
Over the past couple of years, Microsoft has made some changes to their office software offerings.
In the past, when you bought a computer, you had several choices for word processing programs.
Many computers came with Microsoft Works which is a scaled down version of Office, or you could purchase Works for just under $100. If you needed a more powerful office suite, you could purchase Microsoft Office for several hundred dollars.
The biggest problem with using Microsoft Works, is that it created files that could not be used in Office, and Works was unable to read or edit Office files.
Recently, Microsoft stopped selling Works, and at first, provided a 30 or 60 day trial of Office on new computers. With the introduction of Office 2010, they included a Starter version of Office. While the starter version does not expire, it only includes a limited version of Word and Excel.
If the Office Starter works great for you, and meets all your needs, then you are all set. If, at some point you find that you need some of the more advanced features of Office, or you need more than just Word and Excel, you will need to upgrade or purchase a full version of Microsoft Office.
If you have purchased a full version of Office, make sure you un-install all the Office Starter programs from your computer before installing the new version of Office.
Elizabeth
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I suggest that if anyone needs more Word Processing power than the Office Starter edition offers, that s/he consider the free Open Office suite. It has a word processor, spreadsheet, database and more and costs nothing. I have found it very reliable on my windows 7 laptop.
An inexpensive way to obtain software is to buy the student versions. In order to do this, I enroll in a class at the community college and get a student ID. I then either go to the campus bookstore or go online and order with my ID. The student versions are full version but are not upgradable.
I recently bought a Dell/Windows 7 notebook that came with Office Starter. I previously used Microsoft Works and do not like,or need Office Starter. Luckily the HP notebook I bought back in 2004 came with the system disks, including the disk for Microsoft Works. I installed the old 32-bit version of Microsoft Works on the new Dell 64-bit computer and it works!
Always make sure you get the system disks for your computer. The Dell notebook I bought did not come with the system disks. But I contacted Dell support to have them send me the system disk, for free. You have to dig around the Dell site to find the information that Dell will send you the system disks, but it is worth the effort.