Hello-
I purchased an iMac last October and a copy of Office. My husband
loves the iMac so much that he has difficulty sharing and we're going
to pick up an iBook. My question: can I install Office on multiple
computers? I have some experience with this on the PC side- Office 97
could be installed as many times as you wanted but XP wouldn't let you
do more than 3 (when my PC kept crashing and I had to was problematic
in this area.

Thanks-
Amanda

On 16 Sep 2003 07:00:31 -0700, AmandaSwatyMyers[at]yahoo.com (Amanda)
wrote:

>Hello-
>I purchased an iMac last October and a copy of Office. My husband
>loves the iMac so much that he has difficulty sharing and we're going
>to pick up an iBook. My question: can I install Office on multiple
>computers? I have some experience with this on the PC side- Office 97
>could be installed as many times as you wanted but XP wouldn't let you
>do more than 3 (when my PC kept crashing and I had to was problematic
>in this area.
>
>Thanks-
>Amanda

Two levels to your question... legal vs. possible.

re. legal, while in general when you purchase a copy of software, the
license allows a single install, interestingly, the Windows versions
of MS Office can be legally installed onto up to two computers, as
long as they aren't going to be used at the same time-- typically
either a work + a home computer, or a desktop + a notebook. (Don't ask
me how this is policed!)

It was possible to install Windows versions previous to Office XP on
more computers than that, but it wasn't in keeping with the license
agreement.

Starting with Windows Office XP, Microsoft added product activation--
either online or by phone, after installation, users need to connect
with Microsoft to 'activate' the product, so it will continue to work
beyond a short time. If you've installed it on a second system (or in
some cases, reinstalled it onto the same system after some hardware
changes), you might need to talk to a live MS employee, to get an
activation code.

(The process is actually more efficient and friendly than it sounds).

I am not sure whether Mac versions of Office also include the 'two
computers' bit in the licensing agreement.

Microsoft has not implimented Product Activation in the Mac versions
of its products-- it is possible to install them onto multiple
computers. However, there IS a catch with the latest Mac versions of
MS Office-- if two Macs are on a network with the same copy of Office
installed, it will not let them both run at the same time.

That may or may not be an issue for you and your husband.

Alan Zisman <alan[at]nospam.zisman.ca> wrote in message news:<i38fmv4h524k4urnecqj31buqft4sdavk3[at]4ax.com>...
> On 16 Sep 2003 07:00:31 -0700, AmandaSwatyMyers[at]yahoo.com (Amanda)
> wrote:
>
> >Hello-
> >I purchased an iMac last October and a copy of Office. My husband
> >loves the iMac so much that he has difficulty sharing and we're going
> >to pick up an iBook. My question: can I install Office on multiple
> >computers? I have some experience with this on the PC side- Office 97
> >could be installed as many times as you wanted but XP wouldn't let you
> >do more than 3 (when my PC kept crashing and I had to was problematic
> >in this area.
> >
> >Thanks-
> >Amanda
>
> Two levels to your question... legal vs. possible.
>
> re. legal, while in general when you purchase a copy of software, the
> license allows a single install, interestingly, the Windows versions
> of MS Office can be legally installed onto up to two computers, as
> long as they aren't going to be used at the same time-- typically
> either a work + a home computer, or a desktop + a notebook. (Don't ask
> me how this is policed!)
>
> It was possible to install Windows versions previous to Office XP on
> more computers than that, but it wasn't in keeping with the license
> agreement.
>
> Starting with Windows Office XP, Microsoft added product activation--
> either online or by phone, after installation, users need to connect
> with Microsoft to 'activate' the product, so it will continue to work
> beyond a short time. If you've installed it on a second system (or in
> some cases, reinstalled it onto the same system after some hardware
> changes), you might need to talk to a live MS employee, to get an
> activation code.
>
> (The process is actually more efficient and friendly than it sounds).
>
> I am not sure whether Mac versions of Office also include the 'two
> computers' bit in the licensing agreement.
>
> Microsoft has not implimented Product Activation in the Mac versions
> of its products-- it is possible to install them onto multiple
> computers. However, there IS a catch with the latest Mac versions of
> MS Office-- if two Macs are on a network with the same copy of Office
> installed, it will not let them both run at the same time.
>
> That may or may not be an issue for you and your husband.

Thanks for the repsonse- that's about what I figured (I'm not trying
to cheat MS out of any money but I did shell out big bucks for the
software) :)

On 17 Sep 2003 08:04:24 -0700, AmandaSwatyMyers[at]yahoo.com (Amanda)
wrote:

>>
>> I am not sure whether Mac versions of Office also include the 'two
>> computers' bit in the licensing agreement.
>>
>> Microsoft has not implimented Product Activation in the Mac versions
>> of its products-- it is possible to install them onto multiple
>> computers. However, there IS a catch with the latest Mac versions of
>> MS Office-- if two Macs are on a network with the same copy of Office
>> installed, it will not let them both run at the same time.
>>
>> That may or may not be an issue for you and your husband.
>
>Thanks for the repsonse- that's about what I figured (I'm not trying
>to cheat MS out of any money but I did shell out big bucks for the
>software) :)

So the short is answer is, if you want to be sure that you're legal,
check with MS (or carefully read the license agreement when
installing... it's certainly possible, since what you're proposing IS
(more or less) legal with the Windows version.

I would be interested to hear what you discover!

-- AZ

On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 23:31:43 GMT, Alan Zisman <alan[at]nospam.zisman.ca>
wrote:

>So the short is answer is, if you want to be sure that you're legal,
>check with MS (or carefully read the license agreement when
>installing... it's certainly possible, since what you're proposing IS
>(more or less) legal with the Windows version.
>
>I would be interested to hear what you discover!

I just looked. It is legal for the primary license holder to install
a second copy onto a portable device for their own exclusive use.
(General License Grant to Install and Use Software Product)

=IML=

Remove the "removethis" to reply

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On Fri, 19 Sep 2003 01:50:19 GMT, Ira Lieberman
<iml.removethis[at]cfl.rr.com> wrote:

>On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 23:31:43 GMT, Alan Zisman <alan[at]nospam.zisman.ca>
>wrote:
>
>>So the short is answer is, if you want to be sure that you're legal,
>>check with MS (or carefully read the license agreement when
>>installing... it's certainly possible, since what you're proposing IS
>>(more or less) legal with the Windows version.
>>
>>I would be interested to hear what you discover!
>
>I just looked. It is legal for the primary license holder to install
>a second copy onto a portable device for their own exclusive use.
>(General License Grant to Install and Use Software Product)
>

Thanks for the follow-up.

-- AZ