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Macintosh and Windows Users: Keeping Current with Microsoft Office

IS&T plans to end support for Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows and Microsoft Office 2008 for Macintosh at the end of 2012. Upgraded versions offer better performance, integration, and compatibility.

Information Services and Technology (IS&T) plans to end support for Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows and Microsoft Office 2008 for Macintosh at the end of 2012. Recommendations and details follow, with separate sections for Macintosh and Windows users.

For Windows users

IS&T announced support for Microsoft Office 2010 for Windows in February 2011 and recommends that Windows users upgrade to this version: it offers better performance, integration, and compatibility than earlier versions of Office.

IS&T plans to retire support for Office 2007 for Windows through a two-step process:
  • Aug. 15, 2012 — The Office 2007 installer will be removed from IS&T's software grid. The installer will be archived and provided by the IS&T Help Desk only upon request.
  • Dec. 28, 2012 — IS&T will end support for Office 2007.
How to Obtain Office 2010
MIT offers Microsoft Office 2010 through the Microsoft Campus Agreement at no direct cost to departments, for faculty, staff and student use. You can download the software from the Office 2010 for Windows page, which includes system requirements and installation instructions.

Note: To install Office 2010, first unzip the contents of the office2010.zip file into a separate folder and then run the setup-MIT.cmd.

For Macintosh users

IS&T announced support for Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 in December 2010 and recommends that Macintosh users upgrade to this version: it offers better performance, integration and compatibility than earlier versions of Office.

IS&T plans to retire support for Office 2008 for Macintosh through a two-step process:
  • Aug. 15, 2012 — The Office 2008 installer will be removed from IS&T's software grid. The installer will be archived and provided by the IS&T Help Desk only upon request.
  • Dec. 28, 2012 — IS&T will end support for Office 2008.
How to Obtain Office for Mac 2011
MIT offers Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 through the Microsoft Campus Agreement at no direct cost to departments, for faculty, staff and student use. You can download the software from the Office for Mac 2011 page, which includes system requirements and installation instructions.

For help installing Office 2011, refer to the Knowledge Base article Install or Upgrade to Microsoft Office for Mac 2011.

Support for Microsoft Office

IS&T provides MIT community members with free online courses on Microsoft Office through lynda.com, a comprehensive library of software training videos. To access this resource, go to http://lynda.mit.edu and log in using your certificate or Kerberos username and password.

If you need assistance installing or using Microsoft Office, contact your DITR consultant or the IS&T Help Desk at 617-253-1101 or helpdesk@mit.edu. You can also submit a request online.

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