Microsoft Office 2016 installation, MSDN?

VL and Retail activation are separate. VL activates through a KMS server. It just happens that MSDN also issues Retail keys for Windows and Office. You can't activate some Editions via VL. Windows 10 Home for example can only be activated with a Retail or OEM product code. It can not be KMS activated.
All my Visual Studio Enterprise Subscription, Windows 10 Retail product keys, activate with a Digital License, even my MAK keys activate with a DL. I can install Windows 10, do a skip entering a key and it will activate with the DL.
Don't take this the wrong way, but if you want a true authentic Retail Product, don't buy second hand on e-Bay. < Just my personal opinion based on all the issues I've seen with second hand E-Bay keys etc. I get why people do it, the real deal is expensive. Microsoft like any other corporation has to make a profit to keep in business. On the other hand that's easy for me to say. As a former MVP I've had the luxury of getting my Windows and Office for free over the last few years. I'll be running Office 2016 till it won't run anymore.

I should have mentioned that my MSDN Office 2016 Pro, activates via Retail Channel, just like yours did. Its not a subscription version, its full Retail. Its also not tied to any subscription plan or to my Microsoft Online Account. I've reinstalled many times and had no issues activating with those product keys. I just make sure not to use the same product key on more than one PC at any one time. I may be a bit OCD but I take note of what PC said key was first used on (activated on) and make sure to only ever use that key on that PC. Same deal with my Windows Product keys. I also have keys from an expired MSDN subscription that still work. They didn't blacklist them etc just because the subscription wasn't renewed. As far as I know, that only happens (blacklisting) if abuse is detected, such as selling your keys on E-Bay. And that only happens if somebody reports it to Microsoft. To the best of my understanding anyway.

You can buy just Outlook instead of the whole Office suite. Word and Outlook are about all I use from my Office suite. There are other alternatives out there, never went that route myself so I couldn't begin to recommend anything.
Buyer beware is about all I can say. That E-bay purchase may work just fine. If that seller doesn't get greedy and sell that same product code to somebody else etc. It happens.
I didn't reapply to be renewed as an MVP this year. I'm hoping Office 2019 comes out before my Visual Studio Subscription runs out. If it does I'll be able to claim 5 product codes and upgrade to Office 2019. I'll worry about what happens after that when extended support finally ends. I'll likely just keep using it patches or no patches.

albert1 said:

Yeah, I don't know. I found new MS Outlook 2016 Genuine Product Keys such as

Seriously, you cannot believe those are genuine?

I think I got enough of this thread now, after your last post. It is obvious that you have decided to go with piracy, buy a product you absolutely 100% sure know is pirated. I mean, if you even try to tell us that you think software that costs 100+ USD when bought directly from Microsoft can be bought legally with just 10 or 15 USD from eBay, we both know that you are lying.

Good luck. I do not want to assist in piracy.

Kari

No those links are examples of what is available for a ms outlook on eBay I never said anything about purchasing those products.

I also included links of used copies of Microsoft Office 2007 in original retail packaging, however never said I was going to purchase any only that I came across a few copies that included some sort of key. Whether their legitimate or not I don't know.

I was able to install MS Office 97 under Windows 10 however Outlook does not function. I was also able to install office 10 however Outlook 2002 does not want to run without Outlook Express installed.

People have gotten Windows Mail (I don't mean Windows Mail Live) to run under Windows 10. However it's problematic installing as files need to be copied over to a Windows 10 folder that have the correct security privileges. Why Microsoft included a downgraded mail client I don't have a clue other than to perhaps sell copies of MS Office and Outlook 2016.

What I'll most likely do is return the MS Office 2016 (as soon as I'm able to find it) and run another mail client such as MailBird. I can still run Word and Excel from Office 97 that installs ok under Windows 10, however Office 97 Outlook won't run under Windows 10.

I got lucky, I got a free Technet & MSDN subscription as a perk of being a Microsoft MVP. Still have all the old Technet keys in an XML file. Then MSDN transitioned to My Visual Studio. Exported all my "My Visual Studio Enterprise" keys to an XML file too, when I decided i wasn't going to apply to be renewed. Like you say, they will all be good even when my subscription runs out. As long as you don't do something stupid like sell them on E-Bay all is good. You get to keep them.
No way I could afford to extend it, not on my current income. Don't really need to to be honest. I have a bunch of unused Windows 10 keys, if I ever need to to upgarde to Pro or something on a new PC purchase. I'm hopeing Office 2019 drops before my sub runs out so I can snag some keys for that. If not I'll just keep using Office 2016, end of suport or not.