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Say goodbye to Microsoft Office 2003

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Bye Office 2003

As you know, Microsoft Office 2007 launched for Business customers through Volume Licensing in November of 2006 and went to general availability through Retail Box and OEM in January of 2007. As such, now is a great time to educate your customers on the benefits and features of the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

After June 30, 2007, OEM Microsoft Office 2003 will no longer be available from Microsoft. Some authorized OEM Microsoft distributors may have some remaining inventory left for a short time after June 30th; however, Microsoft will no longer be shipping OEM Microsoft Office to them. For all system builders, you can see more about this on the Microsoft System Builder website.

If you are a Microsoft system builder, make sure you are buying legitimate Microsoft OEM software through the authorized OEM Microsoft distributors to help protect your clients from illegal or counterfeit software floating around out there. I have posted a list of OEM System Builder Partner Resources and posted about the dangers of buying OEM through sites online in the past. Not to mention the potential exposure to an audit or fine that illegal software opens your clients up to.

Also, remember that for your clients wishing to run Office 2003 still today, by taking advantage of the downgrade rights included in the Volume Licensing versions of Microsoft Office 2007, they can utilize Office 2003 today and then move to Office 2007 when they are ready without having to re-buy their Office license like they would with OEM. Remember that OEM Microsoft Office does not have downgrade rights.

To learn more about downgrade rights and the Volume Licensing Programs, you can attend my:

“Introduction to Open License for Partners” webcast on Tuesday, June 19th and to learn more about how Microsoft Office is licensed, you can attend my “Introduction to Office, Windows, and Server Licensing for Partners” webcast on Thursday, June 21st .

Thank you and have a wonderful day,

Eric Ligman
Microsoft US Senior Manager
Small Business Community Engagement
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

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