Office 2010 Starter Edition (Word + Excel) is still available for download

[Marc_LFD]

M$ got rid of this as they figured out people would pay for it (Office 365), but luckily the internet have preserved it and it's available for download.

Link: https://www.autoitscript.com/forum/topic/205471-office-2010-starter-downloader/ (pick the "1F" version as it's slightly newer)

There's four simple steps for it:

1) Download the files (choose your preferred language)
1b) If it doesn't download then that means your ISP blocked it, so use a VPN (Proton VPN offers a free VPN service and it's perfectly fine for this)

2) Install setupconsumerc2rolw.exe
3) Open the folder "Updates" and install click2run-x-none.msp (this makes it functional again)
4) Restart, and it's done.

I've been using Office 2007 with a pirated key for years now, but I decided to give this a try as I only use Word and Excel.

 

[salazarcosplay]

Great job I am definitely going to give this a try

 

[rantex92]

this rides the tos line hard its not pirated but still iffy

 

[Kwyjor]

I'm a little surprised it still works under Windows 10/11?

Microsoft Starter 2010 works with a virtualization technology like V-App. It does not really install Office on your computer, but a virtualized office (like Office in a virtual machine).
To do this it creates a drive Q: which is not user accessable . If you are using drive Q: already, Office 2010 Starter won't work.

I had that on one of my old machines. It was kind of obnoxious, really, and I think it interfered with some things like Microsoft Backup.

Intriguing, but I think I'll stick with Softmaker Freeoffice.

 

[Marc_LFD]

I'm a little surprised it still works under Windows 10/11?

Why not.

I still use Office 2007 and works perfectly, I decided to go back to Office 2007 from Office 2010 Starter because I re-installed Windows 10 and didn't want to see those tiny ads on the bottom right.

It's not really a big deal, those ads are harmless so this is pretty decent.

 

[Kwyjor]

Why not.

I'm pretty sure older versions of Office (pre-2007) have compatibility problems under later versions of Windows, so it wouldn't be surprising – and those didn't do anything nearly so weird with virtual-machines and protected drives.

 

[Marc_LFD]

I'm pretty sure older versions of Office (pre-2007) have compatibility problems under later versions of Windows, so it wouldn't be surprising – and those didn't do anything nearly so weird with virtual-machines and protected drives.

I think so too. I only switched from Office 2003 to Office 2007 because the 2003 was either incompatible or the UI felt a bit outdated, probably the former (I don't really mind old UIs).

 

[mituzora]

Why not just use LibreOffice? It's FOSS, and is compatible (for the most part) with MS Office XML formats (docx, pptx, etc.)

There are some weird compatibility issues here and there, but from my experience, very little. it's also a bit different UI wise, but if you're just trying to type out a word document or make a spreadsheet, it works fine for that, and it's free, and not out of date with SIGNIFICANT security issues. Even Office 2016 isn't advised to be used because of the massive security holes in it. Oh, and unlike this old ToS breaking software, it comes with more than just Excel and Word.

 

[Kwyjor]

Eh, last time I looked at OpenOffice it still had the nasty Java dependencies. I'm told it's gotten a lot better since then, but in the meantime I barely need an office suite at all, and Freeoffice meets what little needs I have.

 

[mituzora]

Eh, last time I looked at OpenOffice it still had the nasty Java dependencies. I'm told it's gotten a lot better since then, but in the meantime I barely need an office suite at all, and Freeoffice meets what little needs I have.

LibreOffice was forked from OpenOffice, and from what I gather, you can completely disable the use of Java. Apparently LibreOffice also gets a lot more development done compared to OpenOffice

 

[lordelan]

Any Office version is available for download and can be activated with various tools (Reddit is your friend). What's the difference with this one?

 

[Kwyjor]

Any Office version is available for download and can be activated with various tools (Reddit is your friend). What's the difference with this one?

It's vaguely more legitimate? Even back in the day I can recall that your were implicitly encouraged to install Starter Edition to a thumb drive and copy it where you needed it.

 

[mituzora]

It's vaguely more legitimate? Even back in the day I can recall that your were implicitly encouraged to install Starter Edition to a thumb drive and copy it where you needed it.

I know it doesn't matter much here but installing office starter 2010 on any machine outside of an OEM effectively breaks ToS, so it's not any more legitimate than downloading a pirated copy of Office.

Starter 2010 is an advertising-supported base productivity suite that is available only on new PCs. It must be preloaded on new PCs at the point of manufacture. Office Starter 2010 is not available for existing PCs at any time after manufacture; for example, Office Starter 2010 cannot be installed on new PCs being sold by resellers, even brand-new PCs. It will not be sold through distribution or available to end users as a standalone product.

 

[tech3475]

Just so people know, Office 2024 will have a perpetual license option:
https://www.xda-developers.com/microsofts-office-2024-perpetual-licenses/

Why not just use LibreOffice? It's FOSS, and is compatible (for the most part) with MS Office XML formats (docx, pptx, etc.)

There are some weird compatibility issues here and there, but from my experience, very little. it's also a bit different UI wise, but if you're just trying to type out a word document or make a spreadsheet, it works fine for that, and it's free, and not out of date with SIGNIFICANT security issues. Even Office 2016 isn't advised to be used because of the massive security holes in it. Oh, and unlike this old ToS breaking software, it comes with more than just Excel and Word.

Main reason I don't rely on Libreoffice is because I've had issues when it comes to other people's documents, even if I were to primarily switch to LO, I'd still want at least 1 copy of MS Office as fallback.

I do use Office 365, but I only ever buy Office 365 6 users when discounted, share it with family and use the 6x1TB Onedrive with some other software for encrypted backups. The latter is what really gives it value IMO.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Office 2024 will have a perpetual license option:
https://www.xda-developers.com/microsofts-office-2024-perpetual-licenses/

So if this is anything to go by, Windows 12 will either be free with ads or subscription based.

There's reports of Windows 11 having ads in file explorer, but they say that was an "accident."

 

[tech3475]

So if this is anything to go by, Windows 12 will either be free with ads or subscription based.

There's reports of Windows 11 having ads in file explorer, but they say that was an "accident."

I've said this before, but I think it would be stupid for MS to make base windows a subscription, because it can be used to push software, subscriptions, etc.

Rumours I've heard for W12 is that they may try to push AI/copilot more, which they will find a way to monetise, even if it's just to push Bing.

To give a comparison, if I was effectively forced to switch from Windows to Linux, I wouldn't be paying for Office 365.

 

[Marc_LFD]

I've said this before, but I think it would be stupid for MS to make base windows a subscription, because it can be used to push software, subscriptions, etc.

Rumours I've heard for W12 is that they may try to push AI/copilot more, which they will find a way to monetise, even if it's just to push Bing.

To give a comparison, if I was effectively forced to switch from Windows to Linux, I wouldn't be paying for Office 365.

Well, people have gotten used to paying for all kinds of subscriptions so they'd say "What's the problem? It's just another one."

And I'm surprised M$ hasn't gotten rid of Control Panel yet.

 

[tech3475]

Well, people have gotten used to paying for all kinds of subscriptions so they'd say "What's the problem? It's just another one."

And I'm surprised M$ hasn't gotten rid of Control Panel yet.

Most of those subscriptions aren't base functionality though. I've cancelled XBL/GP, but I can still use my Xbox, even Ring can still be used as a basic doorbell without a subscription.

As for the control panel, looking at mine, there's still quite a few things both first and third party using it. So it's likely easier to just keep control panel going than to just shoehorn it into the Settings menu.

 

[Marc_LFD]

Most of those subscriptions aren't base functionality though. I've cancelled XBL/GP, but I can still use my Xbox, even Ring can still be used as a basic doorbell without a subscription.

As for the control panel, looking at mine, there's still quite a few things both first and third party using it. So it's likely easier to just keep control panel going than to just shoehorn it into the Settings menu.

Without a subscription, it could revert to a Free with Ads model which could very well work.

I've seen people saying they don't mind ads on YouTube and Amazon Fire tablets and that "you just wait a few seconds and it's gone."

 

[tech3475]

Without a subscription, it could revert to a Free with Ads model which could very well work.

I've seen people saying they don't mind ads on YouTube and Amazon Fire tablets and that "you just wait a few seconds and it's gone."

Well they've been doing that with Solitaire.