Free Upgrade to OFFICE 2003 BETA ???

Does anyone have any advice on taking up Micro$oft on their free (except for the $20 "S/H ") MS Office 2003 BETA package?

How about any plusses/minuses for or against?

I have read some posts on the MS site, and understand the BASIC differences and the added features off the new version, so what I am looking for is any opinions on just what kind of a mess I might be getting myself into if I take the beta bait (hmmmm, should they spell "beta" as "bait-ah "?)

And, one thing was not clear to me (because I have trouble with the MS faqs on the subject due to my firewall) -- does anyone know whether, if I go for the beta version, I will get patches and upgrades such that someday I might actually have a non-beta, workable, (free) version?

 

Microsoft has been "giving" beta version of products away for years. Sometimes you can get in on a beta program that you won't have to pay for shipping and handling but the consumer beta programs like Office 2003 you're speaking of is consistent with past betas in having to pay for s/h.

If you want to see how Office 2003 differs from previous Office suits I'd say go for it, but don't treat it as getting a free, functional version of Office for free. I beta tested Office XP and was graced with spontaneous application crashes and features that were not 100% functional yet.

You may be be entitled to patches for the beta but the product will have an expiration date built in, either a set date or something like 180 or 360 days from install it will cease functioning. After that, the product will no longer be usable. When the production version is released you won't get an upgrade from the beta to make it a "real" version. Microsoft will simply state in the beta instructions that you will have to purchase the final product if you want to continue to use Office 2003 once you beta expires.

Heed Steve's advice, don't use beta products on your main computer. Test it on a computer that doesn't contain critical data so if you do have to scuttle the OS and reinstall you won't be in a pickle.

 

last week in some newsletter they said the update is referred to as office 11. There was info on the advantages of Office 11 (must have or you are going to die immediately a horrible death)
on the microsoft website.

 

in reply to Hulka's post

To Scott:

QUOTE -- "the product will have an expiration date built in, either a set date or something like 180 or 360 days from install it will cease functioning "

Correct on the expiration date, ALTHO the documentation indicates that the package will still function after that, but with "reduced functionality ".

So, here I am again, wondering if anyone has any speculation on just how "reduced" the functionality becomes, and in which components the reduction occurs, or might be expected to occur? In other words, will the software still be usable for the most part?

 

Found it.
The link for Microsoft Office 11 is
: http://www.microsoft.com/office/developer/preview/