Best Version Media Back Office (2025 Updated)

PROS: -Improvements over some of the features of my Office 2013. Some features in the 2013 version that had become unsupported like the popup synonyms and dictionary work on the new version. The interface is improved over 2013.

Although my first choice was to continue to use 2013, at least 2022 was available for me to buy, and I didn’t have to rent Office 365. CONS:-I would have stayed with Office 2013 but Microsoft is determined to improve their revenue flow by forcing folks to either rent Office 365 or purchase an update to a newer version of Office.

I like Microsoft Office Home and Student 2022 just fine. It works quite well on my new computer, and the learning curve from Office 2013 was not steep. However. Beginning of a mindless RANT:I’ve been using Microsoft products for at least 40 years, and I’ve spent thousands of dollars on their software.

I appreciate that Windows Home 11 is pretty much free now, and I’m pleased that I no longer have to pay $500 for their word processor. That said, I was very disappointed when I reached the end of the road on my old computer at Windows 10 because the computer wouldn’t run Windows 11.

I gave in and upgraded to new machines to go to Windows 11. That was my choice. I don’t dislike Windows 11, and so far it works well for me, but when I tried to install Office 2013, I was not able to “ACTIVATE” it through my Microsoft account.

I went farther back to my disk for Office 2007. Again, installation was not allowed. Instead, I was encouraged to rent software access for an online connection to Office 365 (A limited “free” version of Office 365 is available for strictly online use in order to compete with Google DOCS, but I would be out of luck if the internet goes down).

I chose to purchase Office for Home and Student 2022 from Amazon instead. I don’t change software or hardware often. For example, we still use Quicken 2013 primarily because we don’t like the “improvements” in the later versions that increase the price while removing features that we actually found useful, and of course, Intuit really wants you to rent Quicken.

Office 2013 lasted me for 9 years on my old machine. If I had been paying $90/year rent for the software, then I would have spent more than $800. That’s more than 3 times what I paid to buy it. If I wanted to do online software, I could have used Google DOCs for free or the free version of Office 365 online.

The last straw for me in this rent software business model is that HP now requires an activation to set up their printer software. I have a friend who got a new laptop. She asked me to setup her printer on the new machine.

Easy, I thought, even though I worried over, IMHO, HP’s sparse instructions, kludgy software, and an annoying and implacable website. I installed the print drivers despite the bad instructions and user interface.

Then I was taken to an activation page. Activation Page! I tried to sign into her account from when she bought the printer for her old computer, but of course she didn’t remember the password she used.

I tried to set up a new account for her but that was impossible because her email address was already in use. Now I will have to completely uninstall the print drivers, request a password reset and start all over again.

And HP wants her to join their ink-of-the-month club by guessing how much ink she might use. A printer is a physical device. No one is going to make a copy of a printer and give it to their friends to use on an unauthorized machine.

That is one of many reasons that I no longer buy HP printers after years of using nothing else. For my personal use, I switched to Brother, which is not as fast as an HP, but it orders its own ink from Amazon WHEN IT NEEDS IT.

Now ACTIVATION is being used by software companies to force you to discard your favorite old software and buy or rent their new versions. I understand that software companies reach a point where they no longer want to support older software, but I prefer to upgrade on my schedule, not theirs.

And I do upgrade when I’m sure that the features I like will continue, that the new features make the upgrade worth the price, and that I won’t be held hostage to a new file structure or business model.

Therefore, it is my intention to NOT participate in rented software if I can avoid it. I never liked working on main frame computers using terminals and having to deal with centralized control. “Personal computers” were part of the revolution for me because they were personal.

They stood alone for better or worse. They were not at the whim of some faceless tech. The current trend to re-centralize computing operations may appeal to many people, but I shall resist it so long as I can get away with it.

As a final aside, IMHO, the worst perpetrators in this new rental model are the Tax Preparation Software companies that do not clearly document what schedules are included in their entry/base rental price OR their entry/base purchase software.

Only after you get started, do you discover that you have to pay a lot extra to get the one schedule that was not included. Imagine seeing that Schedule C is included but later you discover that it is only for Schedule C to enter income, you have to pay more if you want a Schedule C to include expenses.

Oh, you can enter the expenses by hand, but then the company will not file your tax return that was part of your purchase price: you have to print the return and mail it in. Fortunately, I knew better than to buy anything so woefully described.

Unfortunately, I had to buy a version of the software that included many more features than I needed just to be able to get Schedule C expenses AND free electronic filing. However, that was much cheaper than buying the next version down and then having to pay a large added fee to get the missing expense page.

IMHO, the IRS is squeezing everyone into the online filing mode, and the software companies are coming up with all kinds of schemes to drive up the fees they can extract from their users. Don’t get me wrong, I love online filing, but the misleading ads by the software companies providing these services is open to more abuse than selling timeshares.

If you are selling TAX software, then the ads should clearly state which Schedules your software will provide and note any limitations. End of mindless RANT. Thank you Microsoft for allowing me to buy Office for Home and Office 2022.

I would have been looking for a different software brand rather than signup to rent Office 365.

I had to buy Office 2021 in order to continue using Outlook with Gmail. For that, I am very UNHAPPY WITH GOOGLE because I’m out $220 just to keeping using “free” Gmail in an organized manner via Outlook!!! I’m not stupid enough to use Gmail for sensitive personal information, so I couldn’t care less about Googles stupid “enhanced” security.

As for Office 2021, I had NO PROBLEMS buying it from Amazon and installing it from the Microsoft site. I read about all the people that said they “threw their money away” on Office 2021 because of installation problems or the email link not working.

Perhaps they did not understand the process or their computer did not meet the hardware or software requirements. So I was a little nervous about buying this from Amazon for a savings of only $30 from the MS site.

But $30 is $30 so I tried it and had no problems. Not only did I easily and successfully update from Office 2016 to Office 2021, but I also updated from the 32-bit version of Office 2016 to the 64-bit version of Office 2021.

To do that, I did have to first un-install all of Office 2016 because the 64-bit version will not load if you still have the 32-bit version installed. BTW, the email from Amazon with the link to MS will ONLY WORK ONCE but all you have to do is log onto your MS account and the ability to download and install is all still there.

You just can’t access it directly from the email link anymore. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that somehow the new Outlook 2021 magically found ALL my old PST files without me doing anything, and set up all my Gmail inboxes just like I had them before with Outlook 2016.

I have multiple Gmail accounts active in Outlook and dozens of folders under them, with over 11 Gigabytes of stored messages. So, I am very happy that the new Outlook set everything up just like it was, even though I had already un-installed the 2016 version.

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint were the same. Opening them brought up the list of the most recent documents and everything was just like nothing had changed, except now it showed that I was using 2021 instead of 2016 version.

I also don’t know why some people said their documents didn’t work the same, as everything was copasetic with my update. All my documents looked the same and worked the same, including macros, conditional formatting, formulae, margins, headers/footers, etc.

So, other than having to fork out money thanks to Google, I am VERY PLEASED with my Microsoft Office 2021 migration going so smoothly and effortlessly. Not something I can usually say about the Microsoft experience.

At about £20, this full and legal version of MS Office 2021 Pro represents remarkable value! The only restriction is that use is limited to a single PC. Updates are included but unlike Office 365, new versions are not.

At a fraction of the cost of a rip-off single year subscription to Office 365, this, IMHO, is by far the better buy. It is compatible with Windows 10 & 11 – I run Windows 11 Pro. I purchased from the “MMI Shop” on Amazon and there were a couple of hiccups.

The letter with the key and installation instructions didn’t show up. However, on contacting the seller, I was immediately sent the relevant information by Amazon Message. Alas, the first Key didn’t work but a new one was immediately provided which worked fine! The installation was thereafter quick and easy.

There is a 4+ GB download in the process so ensure you have a good internet connection! I use a 100 mbps 4G+ LTE router and the download took about 12 minutes. On completion of the installation, I checked my Microsoft Account and everything was registered correctly.

A couple of new updates were available which I downloaded. Everything works fine and I rather like the new look and feel. My thanks to the MMI Shop for quick and effective support. I have saved a fortune.

I am very pleased.

What else can be said other than Office is Office. Bought this to replace Office 2010. Let me tell you, a decade of quality of life improvements really adds up. Especially the new dark mode. The are two downsides I see this this.

One is the fact that the product key is now printed on the receipt (which fades, crumples, or gets lost easily) instead of the card, which is purely an annoyance for when you might need to reinstall or exchange the license to another PC for whatever happens.

(An edge case, but it does happen). The other downside is I remember a time when Microsoft would sell Office as a group of three licenses as fairly standard, and this single license is definitely more expensive than it used to be (on a per license basis).

Although last year’s experience of the installation and activation process was 5* and incredibly straightforward, for some reason, I had great difficulty this time round. Not being a techie, I don’t understand why this was, so can’t really explain my problems.

But after a bit of hit and miss and a lot of perseverance, I think I have done it correctly now, but I’m still not even 100% sure of that. 2gosoftware still provided the best price, which is why I returned to them.

However, as I rarely use my Windows 10 laptop (far too clunky, complicated and slow compared to my extremely intuitive iPad Mini 5), although I don’t really understand what this product actually does, I still feel it’s something I probably need to buy and install.

I’ve used parts of the Microsoft Office suite since before high school (and Microsoft Works before that, lol), so it’s a little hard to review some of these products from the point of view of a newbie—using them, Word in particular, is kind of like being a fish in water.

The applications (I only really use Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook) do everything I need them to do, so I haven’t found much use for, e. g. , Google Docs or Google Slides *unless* I’m in a group-editing situation, in which case the latter are pretty indispensable.

I will say, I get this suite for free through my job, so maybe I’d feel differently if I actually had to pay for my access to these apps. I’m sure there are improvements that could be made (especially, in my view, in Outlook—the new update made it so you can’t even see a count of total items in your inbox, what the heck is that about?), but you won’t be wasting your time by learning this suite (it’s not WordPerfect we’re talking about here ;P), since it continues to be very common in office settings.

I ordered the 2016 Office Home and Business version but upon installation, then discovered the product key was actually for 2016 Office Pro Plus. I didn’t want to go through the hassle to fix this confusion since the Pro Plus contained the features I needed.

In addition, the activation process via internet didn’t work, so I was must to go through phone call method. Thank goodness there was instructions for this potential problem included in the installation instructions.

If the activation process could’ve been completed via the internet option, I would’ve given this product a 4 stars review. Overall, I am satisfied with this purchase.

My reseller-purchase from Softkeep Software allowed me to load older MS Office software on a replacement desktop at a reasonable expense. Specifically, my purchase allowed me to avoid the following additional expenses I would have incurred with the purchase of similar newer MS Office or MS 365 Software: (1) “How To” Reference Library book expense for newer MS Software (read: reference books for: MS Outlook, MS Excel.

MS Word, & MS Access, etc. ); (2) Monthly subscription fees for MS 365 Software that I could load on multiple devices WHICH I DON’T REQUIRE BECAUSE I have only two devices: one Desktop, & one Laptop.

Oh by the way both of my devices now CONTINUE to run of MS Windows 10 and identical MS Office software. Finally, because I purchase a single Desktop every 8-10 years, I can’t justify the expense for a multiple-device subscription that would effectively support only one additional device.

I’m truly fortunate to have stumbled/clicked my way onto Softkeep’s website! P. s. – I already recommended Softkeep to a neighbor!.

I am a senior citizen and while I have always loved using Microsoft Office, the switch from buying your software outright to a subscription service hits the budget hard. I wanted to find Microsoft Office 2010 which comes on a DVD.

My desktop has a DVD and so does my laptop so this installed on both. One price and it is mine rather than paying $99 a year for a subscription. I had a slight problem when my DVD drive did not download the program.

It kept ejecting the disc. But, it was not this software, it was my desktop. So, since you cannot download Office 2010 online, I installed it on the laptop and then copied the files to a thumb nail drive.

The installation on my desktop went perfectly from the thumbnail drive. The software comes with a key and you are able to install on three devices. I never was asked for a key, so I have a feeling that it could be installed on however many machines you wished.

But, that is just a guess. I am very happy with this software and see me using it for many years.

32bit and 64bit are on my single disc. It was kinda tricky to get the 64bit version to install. Common sense prevailed. You need to run the setup file from within the 64bit folder on the disc. The disc normally defaults to 32bit setup with no choices.

The package of products is great, it is not handicapped for my purposes, because of age in any way.

Activated 64-bit English version of Office 2010 Standard through automated phone system of Microsoft in minutes without any issues. Make sure to get proper version of the Office installation image by Microsoft (for instance SW_DVD5_Office_2010_Standard_64Bit_English_MLF_X16-51913.

ISO or SW_DVD5_Office_2010_Standard_W32_English_MLF_X16-51904. ISO). Installers requesting the product key at installation time won’t recognize these genuine keys as valid.

Office Pro 2010 works in win10 on my dell optiplex 990. Backup dvd a massive bonus. No need to be on line and logged to microsoft. I copied supplied dvd to my disk and run install from there for speed.

Installed on a clean new win10 install (on a new solid state 1T disk). Updated win10, removed office 365 which has been pre-installed with win10. Office pro 2010 installed and activated quite fast. Next i went to windows update and triggered it manually – windows updated Office pro 2010 for me automatically.

I think this can be done without logging in to microsoft. All applications software and data sits on my machine. It is also easy to replace empty outlook data file with an older one. In my case i planted.

pst file with all my data, created in office 2003 i have on my old laptop.

In most cases, companies sell you a piece of software and good luck getting it properly installed and running properly. Not PCSalesonline. com. I purchased an MS Office product and after installing it per instructions, the program repeatedly indicated that there was a problem with recognizing the registration key, even though the Microsoft site said everything was OK.

Turns’ out that PC Sales outstanding first and particularly 2nd level support found that some files in the Windows 10 update were corrupted and had to repaired and reinstalled the Windows 10 files so MS Office would work right.

This took hours for them to do, and I do not know of any other company, except maybe Microsoft, that would support there products like this, at this price point. I am very grateful for their help and would highly recommend them.

They were fantastic, I will definitely be back.

The 2016 Office Professional Plus is actually mediocre. We have had problems with not being able to open more than one Excel sheet at a time or sometimes only one Office product at a time. We get the NOT RESPONDING and loading circle when we do are in the middle of processing or creating or editing a 2016 file.

I probably should have expected that since MS 365 is based on the 2016 format. We had that problem with 2016. I would recommend never buying Office 2016. 2014, or 2010, etc would be the best. But we are stuck with what we ordered unless there is an option to swap out the 3 licenses I have not yet installed.

P. S. the NOT RESPONDING problem happens with Windows 7 AND Windows 10. GS Sutton.

These are 100% legitimate licenses, but they are surplus. This means you may have to use the Microsoft telephone license activation system if the license fails to activate online. We bought two packages, 2016 and 2019.

The first required telephone activation (successful) and the other package activated by the regular online method. We did not tie these to a Microsoft online account, but just to the license key itself.

Telephone activation is a minor PITA in exchange for a 100% legit and full-feature version of Office for a very reasonable price.

PROS: -Improvements over some of the features of my Office 2013. Some features in the 2013 version that had become unsupported like the popup synonyms and dictionary work on the new version. The interface is improved over 2013.

Although my first choice was to continue to use 2013, at least 2022 was available for me to buy, and I didn’t have to rent Office 365. CONS:-I would have stayed with Office 2013 but Microsoft is determined to improve their revenue flow by forcing folks to either rent Office 365 or purchase an update to a newer version of Office.

I like Microsoft Office Home and Student 2022 just fine. It works quite well on my new computer, and the learning curve from Office 2013 was not steep. However. Beginning of a mindless RANT: I’ve been using Microsoft products for at least 40 years, and I’ve spent thousands of dollars on their software.

I appreciate that Windows Home 11 is pretty much free now, and I’m pleased that I no longer have to pay $500 for their word processor. That said, I was very disappointed when I reached the end of the road on my old computer at Windows 10 because the computer wouldn’t run Windows 11.

I gave in and upgraded to new machines to go to Windows 11. That was my choice. I don’t dislike Windows 11, and so far it works well for me, but when I tried to install Office 2013, I was not able to “ACTIVATE” it through my Microsoft account.

I went farther back to my disk for Office 2007. Again, installation was not allowed. Instead, I was encouraged to rent software access for an online connection to Office 365 (A limited “free” version of Office 365 is available for strictly online use in order to compete with Google DOCS, but I would be out of luck if the internet goes down).

I chose to purchase Office for Home and Student 2022 from Amazon instead. I don’t change software or hardware often. For example, we still use Quicken 2013 primarily because we don’t like the “improvements” in the later versions that increase the price while removing features that we actually found useful, and of course, Intuit really wants you to rent Quicken.

Office 2013 lasted me for 9 years on my old machine. If I had been paying $90/year rent for the software, then I would have spent more than $800. That’s more than 3 times what I paid to buy it. If I wanted to do online software, I could have used Google DOCs for free or the free version of Office 365 online.

The last straw for me in this rent software business model is that HP now requires an activation to set up their printer software. I have a friend who got a new laptop. She asked me to setup her printer on the new machine.

Easy, I thought, even though I worried over, IMHO, HP’s sparse instructions, kludgy software, and an annoying and implacable website. I installed the print drivers despite the bad instructions and user interface.

Then I was taken to an activation page. Activation Page! I tried to sign into her account from when she bought the printer for her old computer, but of course she didn’t remember the password she used.

I tried to set up a new account for her but that was impossible because her email address was already in use. Now I will have to completely uninstall the print drivers, request a password reset and start all over again.

And HP wants her to join their ink-of-the-month club by guessing how much ink she might use. A printer is a physical device. No one is going to make a copy of a printer and give it to their friends to use on an unauthorized machine.

That is one of many reasons that I no longer buy HP printers after years of using nothing else. For my personal use, I switched to Brother, which is not as fast as an HP, but it orders its own ink from Amazon WHEN IT NEEDS IT.

Now ACTIVATION is being used by software companies to force you to discard your favorite old software and buy or rent their new versions. I understand that software companies reach a point where they no longer want to support older software, but I prefer to upgrade on my schedule, not theirs.

And I do upgrade when I’m sure that the features I like will continue, that the new features make the upgrade worth the price, and that I won’t be held hostage to a new file structure or business model.

Therefore, it is my intention to NOT participate in rented software if I can avoid it. I never liked working on main frame computers using terminals and having to deal with centralized control. “Personal computers” were part of the revolution for me because they were personal.

They stood alone for better or worse. They were not at the whim of some faceless tech. The current trend to re-centralize computing operations may appeal to many people, but I shall resist it so long as I can get away with it.

As a final aside, IMHO, the worst perpetrators in this new rental model are the Tax Preparation Software companies that do not clearly document what schedules are included in their entry/base rental price OR their entry/base purchase software.

Only after you get started, do you discover that you have to pay a lot extra to get the one schedule that was not included. Imagine seeing that Schedule C is included but later you discover that it is only for Schedule C to enter income, you have to pay more if you want a Schedule C to include expenses.

Oh, you can enter the expenses by hand, but then the company will not file your tax return that was part of your purchase price: you have to print the return and mail it in. Fortunately, I knew better than to buy anything so woefully described.

Unfortunately, I had to buy a version of the software that included many more features than I needed just to be able to get Schedule C expenses AND free electronic filing. However, that was much cheaper than buying the next version down and then having to pay a large added fee to get the missing expense page.

IMHO, the IRS is squeezing everyone into the online filing mode, and the software companies are coming up with all kinds of schemes to drive up the fees they can extract from their users. Don’t get me wrong, I love online filing, but the misleading ads by the software companies providing these services is open to more abuse than selling timeshares.

If you are selling TAX software, then the ads should clearly state which Schedules your software will provide and note any limitations. End of mindless RANT. Thank you Microsoft for allowing me to buy Office for Home and Office 2022.

I would have been looking for a different software brand rather than signup to rent Office 365.