PCs & screens > Office®
Which Version of Office® to Install?
The purpose of this page is to help you decide which version of Microsoft Office® you would like installed on any new PCs or laptops that you purchase.
Office Licencing
It is necessary to purchase a licence for each computer on which you will use Microsoft Office. This licence will entitle you to use the current version of Office, or an earlier version if preferred, on one computer. When you dispose of that PC the Office licence can be transferred to a replacement computer. If at a later stage you wish to use a newer version of Office you will need to purchase a replacement licence as Microsoft does not sell educational upgrade licences.
Beebug are an approved Microsoft Educational Reseller and as such we can supply you with Microsoft licences at discounted education prices.
Differences Between Versions
Office 2010 is the latest version; earlier versions include Office 2007 and Office 2003. While 2007 and 2010 are very similar to each other, they are both very different in use to Office 2003.
The standard version in use at most schools on both Curriculum and Admin networks is Office 2003. Even though any new Office licences purchased by the school since 2007 will allow the later version to be used, we will in fact have installed the 2003 version. This is because, as mentioned above, the versions are so different.
Compatibility Pack
Microsoft has released a software upgrade which enables Office 2003 to read and write files in the format of newer Office versions. This does not add any extra features, it simply facilitates the exchange of documents between users with different versions.
Admin PCs - The Way Ahead
Office 2010 has been supported by Capita for use on SIMS since the summer upgrade of 2011. We would therefore suggest that you use Office 2010 on all new Admin PCs.
Curriculum PCs - The Way Ahead
As Office 2007 and 2010 are so different from Office 2003, it might cause confusion for staff and pupils if a newer version was installed on just a small number of computers. We would therefore recommend moving all computers to a newer version at the same time. A good time to do this would perhaps be when next replacing the PCs in the ICT Suite.
In this case it is likely that the school will need to purchase additional licences. If you are planning to change to a newer version of Office please contact us at Beebug and we will be able to let you know exactly how many licences we have supplied the school for each version of Office. If you give us the total number of computers in use at the school we will also be able to give costs for the additional licences. Please do realise that there may also be labour costs for engineer time to carry out the installation work.