Scam or Real (Office 2021)

Ghot said:

Turns out it's... real.

Ghacks Deals: Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License for $49.99 - gHacks Tech News

Hi @Ghot Could you just elaborate on the 'real' part of your message please for clarification? Do you mean 'real' as in 'genuine'? I'd appreciate your response, for which my thanks.

Christophe

CMArbres said:

Hi @Ghot Could you just elaborate on the 'real' part of your message please for clarification? Do you mean 'real' as in 'genuine'? I'd appreciate your response, for which my thanks.

Christophe

Ghacks always has a Ghack deal up, once a day or week.
There's a link to their deals at the top.

Anyway... I've NEVER seen anyone have any problems with their deals.
I've been following Ghack website for at least 10-12 years.

In other words... you won't get ripped off and the key will be good.

pparks1 said:

I think it's pretty obvious that when new software is available at a 90% discount, it's not really "legit".

There's no logic in that statement. It's an opinion. Mostly, it is, however, how things are. We live in a world of scammers. But it pays, sometimes, to keep an open mind, and be prepared to take 'calculated' risks. Not risks on being able to 'get away' with profiting from a scam that might work. But being open to what is genuine. It pays to be a cynic sometimes. On the other hand, sometimes, it pays not to be.

It may or may not activate and it may or may not stay activated. If you are willing to eat the cost of the software if something happens, that's probably all that matters.

Doing the maths, if it only worked for 4 months, the cost would be fully recovered compared to a 365 subscription.

However, I do believe your circumspection is well founded in experience generally, and concur.

Christophe

- - - Updated - - -

Ghot said:

Ghacks always has a Ghack deal up, once a day or week.
There's a link to their deals at the top.

Anyway... I've NEVER seen anyone have any problems with their deals.
I've been following Ghack website for at least 10-12 years.

In other words... you won't get ripped off and the key will be good.

Thank you very much for your quick response. I very much respect and value your experience. Thanks, too, for adding your contribution here as it will help many out who could benefit.

Christophe

jimbo45 said:

Hi there
@CMArbres
Sometimes these deals are fine -- may be a "Loss Leader"

I bought two really cheap deals on Amazon for Office 2019 some years ago (I think over 2) and now as I'm on Office 2021 I installed the 2 instances of Office 2019 I purchased from Amazon on two colleagues computers -- Activation still 100% OK on both and they are greatfully using it daily.

OK it's a risk - but if it's affordable then why not -- I think in UK there's two relevant sayings -- "Horses for Courses" and "Risk to Reward Ratio".

My experience with these hasn't been bad at all -- if these things didn't work or stopped working after a few weeks there'd be a whole lot of noise on the Internet !!!!.

So up to you !!!!!

Cheers
jimbo

Don't worry mate, I'm in and a happy bunny. I now know this is legit, 100%. I'm I'm one hard to convince mofo.

"Beware of Greeks bearing gifts" can often be offset by "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

We have both just scored by taking a well calculated risk.

Cheers buddy.

Christophe

UPDATE:

I did just make an earlier post to this one including a pic of the install process with my key obscured but it appears to have been removed? Either that or some Gremlin ate it.

Anyway, the gist was that I recover the cost in 6 months based on 6 X £7.99 365 sub and cost of new stand-alone Office 2021 Pro Plus being, for me, £44.48 including $10 Tax as I am in the UK.

CMArbres said:

... because this company does 'feel' legit having a good sniff around ...

Christophe,

I hope your purchase works out for you.

Do note that softmall [Software Mall Ltd, as stated on their website] has a single Director-Secretary [resident in Russia], has not yet filed any accounts at Company house and its name has a history of re-use involving the same single Director-Secretary.



All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

Christophe,

I hope your purchase works out for you.

Do note that softmall [Software Mall Ltd, as stated on their website] has a single Director-Secretary [resident in Russia], has not yet filed any accounts at Company house and its name has a history of re-use involving the same single Director-Secretary.



All the best,
Denis

Thanks for thinking of me Denis. I bought mine from this site as posted earlier up the page by Ghot. This one: Ghacks Deals: Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License for $49.99 - gHacks Tech News You can trust the link. It is trusted by AVG and I haven't caught the pox from visiting it.

The process interface offered by Microsoft renders this issue free, as well as legally binding. I can't see how it could backfire. It was all above-board and officially conducted seamlessly from end-to-end. Microsoft verified the key, then offered the download and install, and it all went like clockwork, very professionally.

I am going by my gut feeling, tested with some diligence, and trust that I will be OK in this instance. IMHO, there is nothing remotely illegitimate about the entire procedure, and it is, as I have said, completely legally binding, not that it is even justifiably to be questioned by Microsoft anyway. They controlled the the whole thing. I have paid them lots of money over the years and have a very old account, so they must know that I am not some dodgy skank trying it on. Something that I would never be a part of anyway. I have extremely high standards in life.

I like the way you checked the company Softwaremall Ltd out. I do that sort of thing all the time. It's a good practice.

Kind regards,

Christophe

ADENDUM

I'd just like to add that the Microsoft install interface that Microsoft offers begins with the link in the following pic (assume it doesn't get removed again):

If you follow that link, and login to your own MS account to explore without committal, you'll see from the process that Microsoft know that the key is from an external source sold just as a key separate from software that they provide in disc form, for example. So, they simply ask for the key. It's a process especially designed for third-party vendors, and not for licences purchased from them, for which no key is needed anyway, as it's all digital buying from them, no key required. They only provide this interface at all because they are well in the driving seat, and know exactly what is going on. It's not logical to think otherwise.

Then the install begins, and it's Microsoft doing the installing. No one else. So, Microsoft, one can only conclude, are 100% happy. I certainly am! Lol

Christophe,

I thought you had used that other website, SoftMall.

By the way, do you use the Outlook application? I was put off Office 2016 [which I tried out for a whole year] by some aspects of the others but it was Outlook that really got up my nose.
If you do, perhaps I could post some Office 2007 & Office 2016 screenshots of the annoying bits and ask you to post Office 2021 equivalents.
The one that really got up my nose was Office 2016 Outlook, Calendar view's inability to display a full shortcut pane and a full date selector pane.


All the best,
Denis

Try3 said:

Christophe,

I thought you had used that other website, SoftMall.

By the way, do you use the Outlook application? I was put off Office 2016 [which I tried out for a whole year] by some aspects of the others but it was Outlook that really got up my nose.
If you do, perhaps I could post some Office 2007 & Office 2016 screenshots of the annoying bits and ask you to post Office 2021 equivalents.
The one that really got up my nose was Office 2016 Outlook, Calendar view's inability to display a full shortcut pane and a full date selector pane.


All the best,
Denis

Yeah, I had a whole different vibe about the Softmall site to the one that Ghot posted. I was holding off until then but it turned out to be a real find. I am chuffed to bits TBH.

I haven't set Outlook up yet, Denis, but will now. I have used Outlook professionally for decades when I was in business as a publisher and life was very complex. Now I am retired, I tend to just use Gmail, which I think is the bomb! I love being able to filter emails so easily and especially snooze them to reappear in my inbox on some future specific date and time like magic exactly when I need them, and archived until then. My inbox is always empty as I process every single email immediately pretty much. They are either deleted, archived with a suitable flag (I use all the gmail ones), or snoozed and flagged. Every email I keep is filtered. I love the clear desk system.

That said, it's a doddle to set up Outlook with Gmail, so I'll do that and post back for you. It's worth trying now with 2021 as I reckon they've had good time to fix the annoyances. Outlook, I agree, has been notoriously fickle and unpredictable at times. It'll be interesting to see how that's changed.

All the best to you, too, Denis.

Christophe

Christophe,

I made lots of notes about why I rejected Office 2016 but these two Outlook, Calendar views illustrate my main peeves:-

Wonderful Outlook 2007 - - - - - - - - - - and - - - - - - - - - - Woeful Outlook 2016
-

1 Calendar view in Office 2016 does not let me keep my whole shortcut pane [the left-hand pane]
2 Calendar view in Office 2016 does not let me keep my whole date selector pane [the right-hand pane]
3 Calendar view in Office 2016 has huge screentips which cannot be turned off or reduced in size and which are a huge distraction as I move my cursor across the screen to select a particular item. The Outlook 2007 ones are so small they are not a bother at all.


I had to use the Snipping tool [rather than Screenshots] to be able to capture the Screentips.
I use PhotoSudio to blur personal info in posted diagrams. MSPaint cannot do that but does let you select areas and cut them out [turning them into white rectangles].

Yours with baited breath,
Denis