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Starting today, students with a qualifying email address can try Office 365 for half a year.Between books, tuition, and booze, going to college is an expensive proposition. It's understandable, then, if students aren't particularly anxious to sign up for a monthly subscription fee for Office 365, Microsoft's cloud-based productivity suite, but when you start throwing around the world "free," it's a good way to get their attention. And so it goes, Microsoft today is offering to let students with a qualifying .edu email address try out Office 365 for an entire semester.
The initial offer is for three free months of Office 365 University, which includes access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access, plus 20GB of SkyDrive storage. Not too shabby, and students can double the trial period by sharing the offer on Facebook, earning them an additional three months.
Even without the generous trial period, Office 365 University is pretty affordable in the long run. A 4-year subscription runs $80 for up to 2 PCs. It also comes with 60 minutes of Skype calling each month (it's unclear if Skype minutes are included in the free trial).
Interested? Be sure to check out the related FAQ.
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Comments are closed on this article
Jox
March 13, 2013 at 8:30am
Why am I picturing Steve Ballmer standing on a street corner in Detroit, giving away dime-bags of "Office" for free in an effort to build up a client-base.
Ballmer: "Dude, you wanna fly? This shit'll get your assignments done, yo! First one's free."
-Jox
KenLV
March 11, 2013 at 12:23pm
Man, you really have to have pure blind hatred of MS to be raging at a deal that costs under $18 a year for the full premium, suite.
Bullwinkle J Moose
March 11, 2013 at 3:28pm
Not Me
I hate Microsoft because my eyes ARE open
Only the blind think there is a deal to be had with Microsoft
KenLV
March 13, 2013 at 4:06pm
Hmmmm... so you think that less than $18 a year for a FULL Office suite that you can install on TWO computers and access from any other computer is not a deal? Kinda makes one wonder what you DO think is a deal.
What's the downside here for the student? That they own the industry standard for office apps? For shame!
Sure. Open eyes - maybe, but close-minded - definitely.
someuid
March 11, 2013 at 11:15am
Don't do it. Use LibreOffice, OpenOffice, Google Docs, etc.
Once they get the hook in your mouth, they're gonna nickel and dime you to death.
Bullwinkle J Moose
March 12, 2013 at 9:13am
But wait....
Some of the FREE alternatives do not require activation, cloud storage or a Qualifying Email address, and in fact do not appear to be spyware of any type...
You do want to fight terrorists don't you?
It's the American way!
jason2393
March 11, 2013 at 11:15am
I'm a student, and my school gave me Office 2013 for free, no limit on time.
USraging
March 11, 2013 at 11:01am
If i want cloud based office software i will stick with google docs, and for local office software i will use libra office. Both are free. I do have office 2010 but only because i had to buy it for one class i took in college over the suit of software.
KenLV
March 11, 2013 at 12:27pm
It's only cloud based (streamed) if you are not on either of the two systems you install on. Full versions on my systems but I can stream full versions of each of the Office applications to any PC running Windows 7 or above.
Rachine35
March 11, 2013 at 10:32am
I am taking full advantage of this. I think its awesome that MS is offering this to students. This will save me a nice chunk of change this semester. Who knows, I may even keep up the subscription ones the trial ends. I know that is what MS is hoping for lol.
