Customer Reviews

Microsoft Office Home & Business 2010 Product Key Card

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

2010 offers some great improvements over Office 2007: Customizable ribbons and the File tab instead of the silly MS Button (which confused everyone), combined with improved graphics and font options are fantastic!! Office 2010 combines the best of older versions (2003, etc.) with the best of 2007. It would be a real winner except . . . .

Microsoft's decision to throw loyal customers under the bus in favor of "simplified pricing" means upgrade costs are prohibitive! Don't be duped into buying the "activation key" card, thinking of it as an upgrade path. The "Activation Key" version can ONLY be installed on one computer - Ever!! It cannot be transferred if you upgrade or change primary work systems - Doesn't even sound like it be reinstalled if you have to reinstall the OS for some reason. Given increasing competition from online apps and a tight economy -- Microsoft needs to seriously reconsiders its pricing structure!!!

Others are buying Office 2007 - thinking they can simply download and install Office 2010 as an upgrade - but I believe the same restrictions as the "Activation Key" will be in effect.

This is like an OEM version - only one installation and one activation. Forget about installing it on more than one computer like the disc/retail version. Also, forget about moving it to another computer and getting it activated again (legally anyway).

I'd stay away from this unless you are absolutely sure that you will only be installing it and activating it on one computer AND that you will never want to move it to another computer in the future. Otherwise, pay a little more and get the non-PKC version that lets you install it on a desktop and notebook computer and move the license to another computer if you ever need or want to.

For a little more money, the non-PKC version is a much better value for many.

I am writing this after multiple conversations with Microsoft Tech Support.
Bottom line: Although Business Client Manager was included in Office 2007 Small Business, you have to purchase the Standard or Professional Version with multiple licenses before it is part of Outlook 2010.
For small business owners who owned Office 2007 Small Business, this is a major take away. Home and Business is in the same price range as 2007 Small Business was. 'Business' is in the name of both, so I assumed that it would have the same components. Now that it's installed, it would be major upheaval to try and go back to the previous version. We're talking hundreds of dollars more to purchase their minimum.
Nothing in Amazon's description states that BCM is there, nor does it warn you that it has been removed.
I told the Microsoft rep that, although I am not an attorney, the way this has been done might be opening themselves up to a class action lawsuit.
Buyer beware.

For $40 more, you can get 2 licenses to install on 2 different PC's by buying the disc version. However, this is a great productivity package, see my review of it here: Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Business (Disc Version).

This just isn't a good deal if you have a 2nd machine you could use the suite on.

I wanted office 2010 Professional, but I didn't like the $500 price tag. I read the first review and how easy it was to install.

Then I read the 2nd one (the only other review at that time) about the nightmare and not ever getting the product to download. That bothered me...a lot!

But I looked at who was offering this product...Microsoft...through Amazon. Not a 3rd party company or individual. I've never had anything but good service out of Amazon. Same for MS.

I made up my mind. I bought it.

The product arrived in 2 days as I am a Amazon Prime member. Opening the box I began reading over the instructions to find they were much like the first person's review. I found the website on the card to download Office 2010. Next, I put that into my browser and ...nothing.

OK, I admit that I did get a little itch of nervousness here, but I clicked on the refresh but and reloaded the page and boom...there is was. Entering the key from the card into the required fields was straight forward. Hedging a little, I ordered the backup CD (I'm a little chicken like the other guy said in his review) and at a broadband speed of 2 meg, I had the whole thing done in about 38 minutes. It installed like a champ and I was up and running with 2010.

How much more simple do you need?!!!

I regret wasting my money on this product.

I had a computer built to my specs as a Christmas present to myself and every cent of the $2000 was worth it EXCEPT buying MS Office 2010 Home and Business. Only Congress could have jammed so much pork on the front page of Word and Excel and still expected people to navigate or even understand it. Most people use the SAME FEW buttons over and over in Word and Excel. The 2003 version had the MOST used buttons front and center and the 2010 version shoves those off to the side or hides them in favor of the complicated buttons most people don't use and never even heard of. It takes an hour of navigation to type a simple Word document and more using Excel.

I DESPISE this MS 2010 version tremendously. It is THE WORSE PRODUCT I have purchased in 15 years.

They attempted to make the search engine easier and failed at that also.

Just found another problem with MS office 2010 that I NEVER had with MS office 2003 in all the years I used it- Their excel hangs up. I use excel a lot when I research things. Under Office 2003, I NEVER ONCE got a "Excel not responding" message but under 2010 which I have had only for a few weeks it has happened several times and it is a WORK STOPPAGE. You get a message that says Excel is not responding and it gives you one of 3 choices to click. I clicked try to find out what happened since I didn't save the info I last posted on it so I didn't want to close it. Minutes tick by and I hit CLOSE it and instead it said it was "researching why Excel wouldn't respond". GRRRRRRRRR tick tock tick tock tick tock wasting my time. DO NOT BUY MS Office 2010.


WARNING: Microsoft EXPORTED their customer service to the Philippines which is only one step up from the dreaded India exported customer service.

NOTE: I called Microsoft ITSELF and spoke with the CEO's secretary who took my name/number and said someone would call me back. A tech from the company did and HE SAID the front page could NOT be changed in any way. I could not suppress or move any of the icons. This was the same thing that was said earlier by the Microsoft's out of country "Manila" customer service representative AFTER 3 hours on the phone being transferred around.
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February 2010 UPDATE:
Suddenly my Excel will not open. WTH? When you CLICK on a previously saved Excel 2010 folder, EXCEL opens the document but the words do NOT appear. This happened yesterday so I GOOGLED it. Low and behold, LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE THIS ISSUE. Here is Microsoft's fix. There is no OPTIONS under file drop down list and under TOOLS where there is an OPTIONS choice and there is a GENERAL choice under that BUT there is no option for clicking the IGNORE OTHER APPLICATIONS. We paid good money for this software and should NOT have to go through this.


Excel opens with an error or without displaying a workbook
800-642-7676
Microsoft Excel 2010
1. Click the File tab, and then click Options.
2. Click Advanced, and then click to clear the Ignore other applications check box in the General area.
3. Click OK.


WORSE, I have ALWAYS had problems with Excel not being able to open more than one or two files at a time or it shuts down. In Googling how to FIX the above non-opening Excel issue, I found out Windows 7 is the culprit on this issue and it is also very common. I have windows 7 64bit with MS 2010 Home and Business. Below is the copy paste fix to THIS ISSUE.

Microsoft customer service. 800-642-7676 Keep asking for agent and customer service and ignore the press 1 etc.

Not able to open MULTIPLE EXCEL files at the same time Fix.
Got this from an outside source and thought I would share :)
In Windows 7 you have to edit the registry to remove DDE completely. This should work for Vista too. Check the "Ignore other applications that use Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE)" box in Excel -> Excel Options -> Advanced This alone might work for you by itself - didn't for me, I got an error every time I double-clicked on an excel document. BACK UP your registry.

Open regedit, browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.8\shell\Open Delete the ddeexec key, (or just rename it if you are worried - i just renamed it and it worked) Then click on the "command" key and replace the /e on the Default and command string in that key with "%1" Quotes around %1 are important. NO QUOTES MEANS NO WORKIE!!!!

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Excel.Sheet.8\shell\Open\command should look like this: (Default) REG_SZ "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE" "%1 command REG_MULTI_SZ vUpAVX!!!!!!!!!MKKSkEXCELFiles>tW{~$4Q]c@II=l2xaTO5 "%1"

Do the same for Excel.Sheet.12 Now Both .xls and .xlsx should open in new windows with no errors.

I have confirmed that the same problem occurs in Office 2010x64 (32bit probably also) when checking the dde option. This should fix All vista and windows 7 problems with opening excel in seperate windows :) Enjoy!

I chose my review title based on the fact that Amazon dumps all MS Office Home and Business 2010 reviews into the same bin. With this version, the cost was $139.99 including the usual suspects: Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Tools. The version was 32 bit, and there was no 64 bit option. This option will run without a problem on a 64-bit CPU with a 64-bit OS, so no worries there unless you're equipped for 64-bit apps, and you're concerned about ultimate performance (such as handling huge documents, running sluggish spreadsheets, or long-executing VBA scripts). I'm running x64 Win 7 and I've had no compatibility issues.

You have to download the actual software, which I've experienced before, even when I've bought a version with a CD-ROM included. I suggest you choose the save option when you download and burn the 688 MB file to a CD or DVD, because Microsoft says they won't make the download available indefinitely. You might need to re-install one day. Of course, you should also save the key, which is what you're buying. I always type the key onto a document and save that and any installation lessons-learned onto the CD with the downloaded file.

I won't bore you with another commentary on MS Office 2010. It's only a marginal step beyond 2007, and there are hundreds of reviews out there (from people whose needs are probably more like yours than mine). I bought this for a Windows partition on a Mac, mainly because the Mac version of Outlook is an abomination. (See what I mean?)

I think this is a good deal, probably reflective our economic times. If you need Outlook as part of the Office suite, you're not likely to find a better price on a legit copy of the software.
Best,
Tim

When I bought this product, I didn't realize I had to have the software on my computer in order to use it legally. I didn't own the software. So, I contacted Microsoft who provided me with a 30 day trial version. In order to get the trial version, I had to have a previous version, which I did own. So, I installed the trial, waited for the system to tell me the trial was going to expire. I then could upgrade my version to a full-blown legal version. It was so easy, it was wonderful! I have wanted to get the upgrade for quite awhile, so I am happy that I could work this out & install the proper version. Office 2010 is very nice. I went from 97/2003 to 2010. What a difference. I really like how easy it is to find features and shortcuts I have used in Office for so long. It is easy to use and understand. The best feature of all the microsoft products is the similarity in the look and feel of each product. You always go to the same place no matter what product you are in to find the menu option you are looking for. That's nice!

Great product, highly recommend it!

When I tried to download using the product key that was sent, it was declared invalid. I had to return it (this was handled well).

I bought a key card copy from Staples and it worked just fine. You can download a "backup" copy from Microsoft and then install. I did so and it was a very easy process (I was installing on a fresh Windows 7 PC). From what I can tell, it is re-installable again and again, just only for one PC. I think there have been some reports suggesting that it is a "one install only" setup. I'm pretty sure that's incorrect. If someone has experience with that, please let me know, but everything I can see says that I can reinstall someday.

I think the key card fills a niche that is certainly there.

I didn't like that there was no upgrade possibilities, but if the idea for Office is to start fresh, i'm all for it.