flashdaddy Loc: Berlin PA

I'm not sure if this is the place to put this as it is not Photography however, I use Excel, Word, & Publisher in my business.

This keeps showing up in my inbox. Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows with a Lifetime License is being offered through stacksocial for $49.99 for 2 more days. The suggested price is $349. I presently use 2010 version.

Does anyone use this? It seems like if it sounds too good to be true is it? I didn't check further but I assume the software is in the cloud and not on my computer so can someone get into my files?

DanCulleton

Only purchase Microsoft products from Microsoft. Or from the App Store if you’re an Apple person.

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

I have purchased Office Home & Business from them and it is what it purports to be. You get a license key and they tell you where to get a download of the installer. It seems they are only selling an older version of Microsoft Office so I'll bet it's Microsoft's way of selling off old inventory.

BebuLamar

Is there an inventory of software especially those are for download???

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

? That does not make sense to me. Sorry.

BebuLamar

When a company wrote the software how much storage do they need to keep the software? If they make a whole bunch of CD's for sales and they may have an inventory of those CD's. But if they only offer download then they only need space of only 1 copy which isn't much. They do not have something they need to get rid off.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

But if they are selling boxes containing the product (depicted) then they do have old stuff to get rid of, or trash.

BebuLamar

Yes but in this case only download is available. They don't have boxes or CD's to send you. So it's obviously not a case of getting rid of inventory. I doubt that any company would delete a version of the software they don't want to sell any more just to save storage space.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

BobHartung Loc: Bettendorf, IA

Yet this must be legit as your are directed to the Microsoft site to obtain the installer. So far I have purchased two of these cut rate copies for different machines and the code provided has worked both times. So for one reason or another, Microsoft seems to support this process. I even get updated for the year my copy was designated.

BebuLamar

Microsoft isn't doing well these days and perhaps their subcription models don't go as well as Adobe so they would try make some money from people who don't like subscription.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

I've got one of these re-licensed products. Mostly it's O.K., but there's one or two things that have been changed and I can't reset them.

I use WORD to make a poster statement that I'll place on my facebook page and the shading options within box fills don't work quite as they should. So problems are minor and in this case will only affect a minority of users. I could probably use Powerpoint but I'm not very fluent with that.

I suspect you might get the license with whatever changes the original owner made to it. If you are using it for a business I wouldn't risk it, for domestic use it suits me O.K.

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

Get it while it is on sell. I purchased it from them a month ago and it is a direct download from Microsoft and is great software. They are a good company and they sell various versions of Microsoft from time to time.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I once bought a copy of Adobe 6. It was in a sealed box and even had the magic hologram label that showed it was a legit product. Took it home, installed it using the "key" and everything worked as it should. Then I changed computers and tried to install it on the new computer but this time it would not load. I called Adobe and was informed I had a pirated product. When I bemoaned how I was out a couple of hundred bucks, the operator took pity on me and told me I could find places that would sell me a key for about 75.00. I'm sure she would have gotten in trouble for sharing that info. I decided if it was a pirated copy I would rather just ditch it. There are a couple of ways legit products get into circulation: First (and this happens with things like iPhones and possibly software as well) a company orders 2,500,000 pieces of say iPhone 14. These are being made in China. At the end of the run, rather than shutting down production at 2,500,000, they let things continue for another 100,000 units. These are then sold off to the black market and ultimately sold to consumers at a discounted price. This came from a senior engineer with iPhone. He was in China for meetings and wandered into a shop where the latest iPhone was being sold for a considerable discount. He felt sure it was a knock-off and bought one to check it out. When he got back to his hotel he disassembled the phone and discovered it was a real iPhone. That is how the knowledge of these overruns became known. The second way these get to market is for a whole shipment to be stolen. It happens from time to time a whole 53' trailer is hijacked. I have heard of truckloads of beef and also electronics being stolen. If a truckload of software were to be stolen, a company could find out what series of units were involved and make those serial numbers unusable. In those cases, the thieves could just add a legit key that would work one time (like I was informed was available on the black market), and then sell the stolen products.

dbjazz Loc: Long Island, NY

Stack Social is legitimate. I have taken advantage of many of their offers, including this one, and have never had a problem.