I want the home business edition (for Outlook) which comes in the 2 Liscense version. BUT I have a MBA, a MBP 15 " i7 and a new 27 " i7 iMAC I would also like to install MS Office 2011 on these machines too. How can I do this without ordering 2 different software disks?
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MS Office on MBA plus 2 other MAC's?
- Thread starter kapalua12
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I can tell you from experience that Office 2011, like Ofc 2008 before it, has a registry key setting that looks for any other versions of Office running on the same network and if it finds it will force all but one instance of Office to quit running. I'm not exactly sure how they do this, but they do and it is fairly effective against casual piracy.
Now that said, as long as you aren't running simultaneously on the same network, you'll not run into this conflict. Read into that what you will. ;-)
If you want to stay 100% functional on 3 computers running on the same network simultaneously, you can buy a single-user license of Office for Mac. Our vendor (PC Connection) has them.
Now that said, as long as you aren't running simultaneously on the same network, you'll not run into this conflict. Read into that what you will. ;-)
If you want to stay 100% functional on 3 computers running on the same network simultaneously, you can buy a single-user license of Office for Mac. Our vendor (PC Connection) has them.
I totally agree with your post.
I have my Office for Mac 2008 installed on my old 2008 macbook pro, my new macbook pro, my macbook air, and and old macbook I sold to a friend. As long as we are not on the same network simultaneously with Office open, then the license keys can be duplicated with no problem. 
The above summarizes my experience as well. Now, it is unlikely that you would be running the MS Office on all 3 computers simultaneously (I'm presuming). All you'll need to do is make sure that you're only running MS Office applications on 2 machines at the time. Shut the MS Office down on one computer, and you'll be good. It is a drag, but it allows you to use your 2 licenses on all your machines.
You say "shut down completely." If I simply close the program with Command Q, will there be programs running in the background?
I will never be running more than one computer with Office 2011 simultaneously. Does that allow me to accomplish my goal of Office Home and Business on 3 different machines at different times?
I really would only need a one license version then would I not?
I will never be running more than one computer with Office 2011 simultaneously. Does that allow me to accomplish my goal of Office Home and Business on 3 different machines at different times?
I really would only need a one license version then would I not?
I had a single license installed on 2 machines, which allowed me to use the s/w on one machine at the time. All of my machines are on my home WiFi network and if I already had any MS Office application running on one machine and then I tried to open it on another machine, I would get a prompt (forgot the exact text) that in essence told me that the s/w was already running on another machine. All it took was for me to go to the other machine, look at the dock to see which app was running there (Word, Excel, MS, or Entourage) and quit it (Command-Q works fine). Then I would be able to open any MS Office app on the other machine. So yes, you would most likely be just fine with only one license on 3 machines, given that you only use 1 at a time.
Office 11 does not have the same licensing scheme as previous versions of Office. Now, Office 11 will reach out to Microsoft servers to activate. The previous versions never contacted Microsoft and worked just as described above. You can't activate on more than three computers without contacting Microsoft and explaining why you need to activate another copy.
You used to get three product keys with the home version of office 2008, now you just get one activation key which will work three times.
You used to get three product keys with the home version of office 2008, now you just get one activation key which will work three times.
Do you mean "which will work three times or 2 times for Office 2011?" The 2011 Business and Home version key works only on 2 machines as far as I can determine.
On the Mac, go to System Prefs - Security. Choose Firewall and then Advanced button. Add the Microsoft apps to the list of applications and choose "block incoming connections". You can now run the same copy on multiple machines on the same network.
Note - this is for Office 2008. I don't know if it will work for other versions.
Note - this is for Office 2008. I don't know if it will work for other versions.
I am referring to Office Mac Home and Student 2011 - Family Pack (3 Licenses). If you want Outlook then you need the other version which has two licenses.
http://www.amazon.com/Office-Mac-Home-Student-2011/dp/B003YCOJAI/ref=pd_cp_sw_1
This has all changed with Office 2011. Office 2011 does not scan the network for other copies of itself. Office 2011 is now like any other Microsoft product which requires activation, you have to activate it to use it and there is no way to deactivate it and re-install on a different machine (a la Adobe). Once you exceed three activations you need to contact Microsoft.
For what OP wants to do, I don't see any way around buying two copies of Office...well except for calling Microsoft and fabricating a reason for needing to activate on a third machine.