Question about MS office 2008

[isaac_osborn]

Hi, I've recently started college and have found the need for a laptop I can carry with me to take notes on, write quick documents etc. Being both a cash-strapped student, and not in need of anything but the most basic laptop, I decided to try and pick up an iBook G4 for relatively cheap, as I feel it could offer me what I need. Alongside this I was also interested in picking up a copy of Ms Office 2008 for the Mac, as I prefer office to any opensource alternative. A quick eBay search revealed there were many cheap second-hand copies, but I'm fearful of buying a second-hand copy I cannot use because of DRM. I wanted to know if anyone could tell me what my best option is, if I buy a second-hand copy from someone who says it comes with a license key, is it likely to work? Am I better going for an edition that has multiple licenses? Or is it entirely impossible to get more use to of a used copy. Any and all suggestions are much appreciated, Thanks in advance .

 

[Bending Pixels]

Don't waste your money. Especially if you're using the most current macOS

 

[chrfr]

Hi, I've recently started college and have found the need for a laptop I can carry with me to take notes on, write quick documents etc. Being both a cash-strapped student, and not in need of anything but the most basic laptop, I decided to try and pick up an iBook G4 for relatively cheap, as I feel it could offer me what I need.

You'll be much better off using an inexpensive Windows laptop than trying to do your work on a 14-15 year old Mac.
Many schools provide access to Office for free to students as well, but not versions as old as 2008.

 

[chscag]

A quick eBay search revealed there were many cheap second-hand copies, but I'm fearful of buying a second-hand copy I cannot use because of DRM

Office 2008 does not require activation. It only requires that you have a valid serial number when you install the app. If I remember correctly, the CD and jacket includes 3 serial numbers which means it can be installed on 3 Macs. Note, however, that 2008 is not being updated or supported any longer and it is only a 32 bit app. But if you're only going to use it on an iBook G4, it will be okay.

 

[isaac_osborn]

Office 2008 does not require activation. It only requires that you have a valid serial number when you install the app. If I remember correctly, the CD and jacket includes 3 serial numbers which means it can be installed on 3 Macs. Note, however, that 2008 is not being updated or supported any longer and it is only a 32 bit app. But if you're only going to use it on an iBook G4, it will be okay.

Thanks for clearing that up for me, much appreciated

 

[chscag]

Don't waste your money. Especially if you're using the most current macOS

The most current version of macOS that can be installed on an iBook G4 is Leopard, so he should be fine with that.

 

[bobesch]

Hi, did you get the iBook and how is it going on?
If you keep your own Office-documents in Office_97-2004 file format, then older Office'04 is even a faster option. There's an "MS Open XML Converter" to convert docx/xmlx/pptx files.
I've installed Office'04 and '08 side by side on my iBook G4, but mostly use the '04 version.
An mSATA+Converter drive-upgrade will speed up things a lot and makes the iBook a really sturdy companion for the backpack, that will take all bumps and bruises without any complaints. Swapping drives is a bit tricky, but really worth the effort - ifixit has the perfect guide, how to get it done.
You may have a look into PPC-Mac Sub-Forum https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/powerpc-macs.145/ if you should have more questions about the iBook (browser, watching YT-video etc.)
Have fun!

 

[mrbrown]

Office 2008 does not require activation. It only requires that you have a valid serial number when you install the app. If I remember correctly, the CD and jacket includes 3 serial numbers which means it can be installed on 3 Macs. Note, however, that 2008 is not being updated or supported any longer and it is only a 32 bit app. But if you're only going to use it on an iBook G4, it will be okay.

IIRC, Office 2008 had some rudimentary copy protection built in where if it detected the same product key on the same network, it would refuse to launch. While this was a problem back then, considering this software in now 10 years old and doesn't run on modern Macs, I doubt it is a problem now.

 

[bobesch]

IIRC, Office 2008 had some rudimentary copy protection built in where if it detected the same product key on the same network, it would refuse to launch. While this was a problem back then, considering this software in now 10 years old and doesn't run on modern Macs, I doubt it is a problem now.

Yepp, that's right and it's good to go for a box with 3 licence-keys, just in case Office'08 is to be installed on more than one machine in the home-network.

 

[chscag]

Office 2008 did not have a product key, only serial numbers. And since three serial numbers came in the box, there was never a reason to worry about it not activating. As far as I remember about 2008, there was no copy protection. That started with Office 2011. However, the Windows versions have had copy protection and activation built in long ago.

 

[mrbrown]

Yepp, that's right and it's good to go for a box with 3 licence-keys, just in case Office'08 is to be installed on more than one machine in the home-network.

I can remember watching Mac users at college not being able to launch Word because everybody in the room was using the same widely circulated product key. lol