Putting their words to the test

So, if the decision to charge $1.50 for the beta of Office 2007 was a way to offset the bandwidth costs of additional downloads then it stands to reason that if I already have the installation files and only want to get another license key to put them on another machine, I should be able to get that for free, right?

Well I went to the Beta site tonight, and that is not the case at all. You're getting charged the "download service fee" before you ever get the option to get a new key or download the software. So maybe Leo LaPorte is right, maybe this is about "keeping the riff-raff out".

Update: Given the opportunity to ask Darren Strange, Office Product Manager in the UK, I left a comment on his post about the download charge. His response, which you can read there, is that it's a non-issue because you can use a beta license key on multiple machines. I only have one machine available to load the beta on so I will have to assume that's true. On the other hand, if I didn't keep my license key after downloading, I should be able to get one easily without paying the download fee, but that's just my opinion.


posted 10:48 PM | 2 comments | Links to this post

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