Microsoft Office 2010 Licensing and Packaging

In those situations where you are certain you will be selling Office Home and Student 2010, Office Home and Business 2010, or Office Professional 2010, licensing is easy.

Purchase a Product Key Card or Traditional Disc from an Authorized Distributor, and then sell it to your customer. To learn more about the differences between the two license types, view the Office 2010 Suite lineup table on the Office 2010 Sell It page.

In these situations, be sure to preload the End User Menu and the Office Single Image. Then your customer can type in the product key and get up and running on Office 2010 in a matter of minutes.

View an illustration of these options .pdf 282 KB

You should consider preloading Office Starter 2010 on your PCs if:

• You want a single process to follow to simplify your build cycle.
• You want to maximize your flexibility because you are not sure if you will be selling a full Office suite with the computer.
• You are selling your PCs through a distributor.

Preloading Office Starter 2010 can increase the appeal of your PCs by offering a base productivity suite, will provide your customers with the best out-of-box experience, and can help you remain competitive with the larger OEMs, who will be preloading Office Starter 2010 on most of their PCs.

Remember: Preloading Office Starter 2010 doesn't take away the option of selling a full Office suite. You always make more revenue by selling a full Office suite for the PC, even when it is preloaded with Office Starter 2010.

If you decide to preload Office Starter 2010 on your PC, you have two licensing options:

1. Purchase discounted Office Starter licenses as part of PC Essentials for System Builders at US$2 per license.

   PC Essentials includes Office Starter 2010, Office Single Image, Windows Live Essentials, Bing Bar, and browser defaults Bing and MSN Home Page. Click here to learn more about PC Essentials for System Builders.

   If you choose this option, you would use the OPK to preload the End User Menu, Office Starter 2010, the Office Single Image, Windows Live Essentials, and the Bing Bar. Then set the browser default to Bing and set the homepage to MSN. Complete instructions are provided in the OPK Installation Guide. .pdf 383 KB

2. Purchase full-priced Office Starter 2010 licenses on a standalone basis at US$5 per license.

   If you choose not to participate in the optional discounted licensing program, you would use the OPK to preload the End User Menu, Office Starter 2010, and the Office Single Image. Complete installation instructions are provided in the OPK Installation Guide. .pdf 383 KB

   View an illustration of these options .pdf 382 KB

Unlike Product Key Cards or Traditional Discs that may be purchased only through Authorized Distributors, Office Starter 2010 licenses are not available through distributors. Office Starter 2010 licenses are sold exclusively by Microsoft.

Purchasing Office Starter 2010 Licenses

If you have already downloaded the Office 2010 OPK and would like to ship PCs with Office Starter 2010 installed, be sure to purchase the Office Starter 2010 licenses.

If you have not already downloaded the Office 2010 OPK, you may do so at the Office 2010 OPK Download page.

Before you begin the Office 2010 OPK download process, you can preview the license agreement.

Microsoft OEM System Builder License for the OPK for Office 2010 and standalone application software, Windows Live, and Bing Bar .pdf 262 KB

As of October 2010 the Product Key Card packaging has been updated with the following new features. It is recommended that you continue to distribute Product Key Cards with the previous packaging until inventory is exhausted.

	Front of Box Features The top of the Product Key Card box shows that it is available for 1 User | 1 PC The term Product Key Card is now lower on the box The Product name is more prominent The term “Designed for purchase with a new PC preloaded with Microsoft Office 2010” is removed The application icons are increased in size More visible “Product Key Only,” “No disc inside”
	Back of Box Features The Getting Started section has been simplified. And references the download option The Purchase Options table helps educate customers about the difference between the Product Key Card and traditional Disc New system requirements section.