14 DAY TRIAL // Office 2003 is living its last days. As of the end of June, the Redmond Company has announced that Office 2003 will no longer be available for original equipment manufacturers. After five months of availability for the Office 2007 System, released to the general consumers on January 30, 2007, Microsoft will no longer deliver the OEM version of Office 2003. Eric Ligman, Microsoft US Senior Manager Small Business Community Engagement, offered a heads up to OEMs in relation to the June 30 cut-off date for Office 2003. As is the case with its Windows client, Microsoft is increasingly focusing on the latest edition of the Office productivity suite. And one way of pushing 2007 Microsoft Office system is to cut availability for 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. 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," Ligman stated.
It is clear that Windows XP and Office 2003 users think differently. While XP is still preferred in some cases over Windows Vista, the same loyalty is not expressed over Office 2003. But the fact of the matter is that Microsoft allows both Vista and Office 2007 customers to downgrade to previous versions of the operating system and the productivity suite. "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," Ligman added.