Microsoft Office Configuration Analyzer Tool 1.0

I seem to be on a Microsoft Office kick right now so here is a little something that may help you diagnose problems with your MS Office installation. Look for it in the Microsoft Download Center. You can get the downloads you need there.

Overview

The Microsoft Office Configuration Analyzer Tool (OffCAT) is a program that provides a detailed report of your installed Office programs. This report includes many parameters about your Office program configuration and highlights known problems found when OffCAT scans your computer. For any problems that are listed in the report, you are provided with a link to a public-facing article (usually a Microsoft Knowledge Base article) on the issue so you can read about possible fixes for the problem. If you are a Help Desk professional, you can also save the report to file so that the report can be viewed in the Office Configuration Analyzer Tool on another client where the tool is installed. The Office Configuration Analyzer Tool 1.0 also includes a command-line version that can be used to collect an OffCAT scan without user intervention.

Microsoft Backs Down On Office 2013 Retail Licensing

We are happy that they have decided to listen to their customer’s complaints about its Office 2013 retail licensing agreement. Microsoft has altered the licensing language as follows according to Jevon Fark from the Office Team:

Updated transferability provision to the Retail License Terms of the Software License Agreement for Microsoft Office 2013 Desktop Application Software

Can I transfer the software to another computer or user? You may transfer the software to another computer that belongs to you, but not more than one time every 90 days (except due to hardware failure, in which case you may transfer sooner). If you transfer the software to another computer, that other computer becomes the “licensed computer.” You may also transfer the software (together with the license) to a computer owned by someone else if a) you are the first licensed user of the software and b) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement before the transfer. Any time you transfer the software to a new computer, you must remove the software from the prior computer and you may not retain any copies.

This change is effective immediately and applies to Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013, Office Professional 2013 and the standalone Office 2013 applications.

Paul Thurrott, editor of the Windows SuperSite, offers his 2 cents on the situation here.

I think this is a real win for the Microsoft Customer base that needs the flexibility of moving their software when the upgrade their machines.

Here is Jevon Fark’s post on the Office News blog.

Choosing the Right Office 365 for SBS Server Customers

With the release of Server 2012 we no longer have a Small Business Server offering. We have sold a lot of this product in the past both in the Standard and Premium versions. This product was a real resource hog though but it gave big server features at a very reasonable price and this made it in many cases very desirable.

Microsoft has launched its new hosted Exchange product called Office 365 to help fill the gap this has left. The cloud suite, which features Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online, could provide an ideal upgrade path for Windows Small Business Server (SBS) customers. Exchange Server was one of the most often used features of Microsoft SBS product. The Server 2012 Essentials package will give you basic server function but has a few limitations. First there are no virtualization rights and second you are limited to a total of 25 clients. The pros are that it is optimized for cloud connectivity, has a simplified interface, is priced around $500 and comes with licensing for the 25 clients.

This is perfectly paired with one of the following: Hosted Exchange Online ($4/user/mo), Office 365 Small Business ($6/user/mo) or Office 365 Small Business 365 ($15/user/mo). So what are the differences?

	Hosted email (Exchange Online) Step up to enterprise-grade email that’s easy to manage and affordable	Office 365 Small Business Help your business thrive with web-based communication and productivity services	Office 365 Small Business Premium Work better virtually anywhere, at your desktop or on the go
	$4.00 user/ month	$6.00 user/ month	$15.00 user/ month
User maximum:	Unlimited	25 users	25 users
Office applications: Subscription to Office for up to 5 PCs/Macs per user.			Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Publisher, and Lync.
Office Web Apps: Create and edit Office files via a web browser.	(View Attachments Only)	·	·
Office Mobile Apps:  Use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on select mobile phones and tablets.			·
Hosted email: Get business-class email, shared calendars, 25 GB of storage space per user, and the ability to use your own domain name.	·	·	·
Web conferencing: Conduct meetings over the web with HD video conferencing, screen sharing, and instant messaging.		·	·
Public website: Market your business with a website that is easy to set up, using your own company domain name. No additional hosting fees.		·	·
Spam and malware protection: Premium anti-malware protection and anti-spam filtering.	·	·	·
Community and phone support: IT-level web support and 24/7 phone support for critical issues.	·	·	·
Guaranteed 99.9% uptime: Peace of mind that your services are available with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, financially backed service level agreement (SLA)	·	·	·

This, of course, are not the only Office 365 choices available but is a great start when thinking about using the Server 2012 Essentials package in an entry level server installation. If you want a full copy of Office and all the functions of an enterprise company the Small Business Premium package would be a great deal for you. It not only includes the hosted Exchange system but also has Lync for system to system communication and last but not least you can install office on up to five of each user’s devices. So if you have some mobile warriors that need to be able to work at the office, home and on the road from all of the devices this might be a really good fit.