Microsoft Office 2010 Buyers Guide — Breaking Down the Office 2010 Editions

By Jay Garmon

Microsoft Office hits retail stores this month and as usual Microsoft is offering a byzantine selection of Office Editions to choose from. Which version of Office is right for you, and which Editions are you even eligible to buy? We break it down in this buyers guide.

The Editions

There are seven Microsoft Office Editions to choose from, though only three of them are available through traditional retail channels. The Editions are listed below in ascending order of complexity and (with the exception of Office Professional Academic) ascending order of cost.

• Microsoft Office Starter
• Microsoft Office Home and Student
• Microsoft Office Home and Business
• Microsoft Office Standard
• Microsoft Office Professional
• Microsoft Office Professional Academic
• Microsoft Office Professional Plus

Each more expensive Edition includes more applications. The latter six Editions all come with a version of Word or Excel you’re probably familiar with, but Starter Editionincludes Word Starter and Excel Starter, which have reduced functionality and can’t run macros or add-ins. Office Starter also includes advertisements, which is how Microsoft underwrites the fact that Office Starter is free.

As you ascend the cost ladder, extra applications are added to the mix, but none are excluded. In this respect, Microsoft has kept your Office buying decision rather simple. Need a particular Office app? Simply find the cheapest Office Edition that includes it.

Setting aside Starter Edition, every version of Microsoft Office includes full versions of Word , Excel , PowerPoint and OneNote . Microsoft Office Home and Business adds Outlook to the roster of applications. Microsoft Office Standard includes Publisher , Microsoft’s full desktop publishing and layout application. Microsoft Office Professional and Professional Academic are identical except for pricing, and include the Microsoft Access database application. Microsoft Office Professional Plus throws in Microsoft Communicator , InfoPath , and SharePoint Workspace .

What Can I Buy?

Microsoft Office Starter Edition is available only as a preloaded application on retail PCs. If your computer manufacturer didn’t include Office Starter, you can’t request it after the fact. That said, almost every PC that comes with Windows 7preinstalled is likely to include Office Starter (assuming a paid version of Office isn’t installed).

For versions of Office that are actually for sale, you have two methods of purchase: Boxed Full Versions, and Product Key Cards. The Boxed versions include full CD copies of the applications (handy for reinstalls), printed manuals, and licenses for two PCs. The Product Key Cards are simply credit-card like plastic slips with product activation codes printed on them. Key Cards can be used to download a single installation of Office onto a PC, or to upgrade Office Starter Edition to a full version of Office . As such, Key Card licenses are cheaper than Boxed Full Version licenses.

Microsoft Office Home and Student, Home and Business, and Professional are all available via retail channels at the following prices:

• Microsoft Office Home and Student– $119 Key Card / $149 Boxed Full Version
• Microsoft Office Home and Business – $199 Key Card / $279 Boxed Full Version
• Microsoft Office Professional – $349 Key Card / $499 Boxed Full Version

Microsoft Office Professional Academic is available only from authorized Microsoft Educational resellers as a Boxed Full Version, but for the discount price of $99. That’s $400 below standard retail for Office Professional, provided you can qualify for the mark-down.

Microsoft Office Standard and Microsoft Office Professional Plus are only available through Microsoft Volume Licensing agreements, or to members of the MSDN or Microsoft TechNet buying services. Prices vary based on the number of licenses purchased, and Microsoft hasn’t published anything like a suggested retail prices for these Office Editions. Suffice it say the more licenses you buy, the cheaper your per-license cost.

The chart below illustrates which apps are included in each Edition of Office .

Application

Starter

Home and Student

Home and Business

Standard

Professional /

Academic

Professional Plus

Word

Starter

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Excel

Starter

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

PowerPoint

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

OneNote

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Outlook

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Publisher

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Access

No

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Communicator

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

InfoPath

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

SharePoint Workspace

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

What About the Office Web Apps?

The Office Web Appsare browser-based versions of Word , Excel , and PowerPoint , and are similar to Google Docs. They offer limited functionality much like Word Starter and Excel Starter, but have the added benefit of handling PowerPoint presentations and OneNote notebooks. In general, the Office Web Apps are enhancements and extensions of existing desktop-based Office applications; they aren’t yet robust enough to replace traditional Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint. If you’re on the fence about Office Starter Edition because it doesn’t include PowerPoint or OneNote capability, the Office Web Apps can probably fill the gap. If you have serious publishing, presentation, or data-processing needs beyond an occasional letter, resume, or household budget, the Office Web Apps won’t make Starter Edition any more sufficient.

Which Office Edition Is Right For You?

Microsoft Office Starter Edition replaces MS Works, Microsoft’s former introductory-level productivity suite. If you simply need basic word-processing and spreadsheet functions, with little regard for serious desktop publishing or data analysis, then Office Starter is probably good enough.

Office Home and Student is going to serve almost everyone Office Starter Edition doesn’t. Do you need macros, or pivot tables, or to create PowerPoint presentations? Then you need Office Home and Student, at the very least.

Do you need Microsoft Outlook ? Then you’re going to shell out an extra $80 to $130 for Office Home and Business.

Do you need Microsoft Publisher or Access ? Then you need Office Professional. Be certain you can’t live without those apps, because they’ll cost you an extra $230 to $360 over the Home and Student Edition of Office . (Unless you can qualify for the Office professional Academic discount, which is probably the best possible deal for any version of Office .)

If you need Microsoft InfoPath, Communicator, or SharePoint Workspace, you’ll need a TechNet or MSDN membership, or to talk to a Microsoft volume reseller. That said, these are fairly corporate-centric tools, so most households and even small businesses won’t need to worry about the bells and whistles of Office Professional Plus.

Bottom Line: Stick with Office Starter Edition until you’re sure you need more than it will offer. It’s free and Microsoft has made upgrades extremely easy — most of the ads in Office Starter are for full versions of Office , so simply click one to begin the upgrade process. Once you’ve identified what Office Starter doesn’t have but that you truly need, you’ll be able to choose between Office Home and Student (for PowerPoint), Home and Business (for Outlook), and Professional (for Publisher and Access).