Want the Microsoft Office suite for free? It’s time you checked out the various initiatives by Microsoft which provide free Microsoft Office to students and startups. Microsoft provides many of its MS Office packages for different institutes around the world on a discount. This includes universities, startups and developers. Usually, you can get free MS Office or Office 365 access if you are a member of an institute which is affiliated with one of the Microsoft programs like Student Advantage, DreamSpark or BizSpark .
1. Microsoft DreamSpark
Microsoft DreamSpark is a program that provides free Microsoft software for teaching, learning and research related purposes. DreamSpark is a cost-effective program for educational institutes that can use it to provide expensive Microsoft software in labs and classrooms. However, it is not just for educators or the staff of academic institutions as students can also apply for DreamSpark.
How To Sign Up For DreamSpark?
- DreamSpark For Academic Institutions: Institutes require signing up for a low-cost subscription of DreamSpark, which provides free access to students of their institute.
- DreamSpark For Students: If you are a student, you can sign up for DreamSpark by simply making an account and verifying your academic status. While some tools will be instantly accessible; professional tools can be acquired only by verified users. Student accounts are valid for 12 months.
Go to Microsoft DreamSpark
2. Microsoft BizSpark
Like DreamSpark, BizSpark is another program by Microsoft which is aimed towards startups, entrepreneurs and developers. This program offers free software and support to help startups.
How To Sign Up For BizSpark?
To qualify for BizSpark, a company must develop software, has to be privately owned and less than five years old, with an annual revenue of less than one million dollars. There is no cost to join BizSpark and businesses can get technical support, training, connections with investors, advisors, incubators, government agencies and more. BizSpark offers free access to mainly software development related Microsoft products like Windows Azure, Visual Studio, Microsoft SQL, Windows Server, Windows Phone and even Microsoft Office applications.
Go to Microsoft BizSpark
3. Microsoft Student Advantage Program
Microsoft has recently announced the Student Advantage Program which will be effective from December, 1st, 2013. According to this initiative, Microsoft will provide free Office 365 access to students whose educational institutes are subscribed with Office Professional Plus or Office 365 ProPlus. Student Advantage provides the option for students from such institutes to make use of all major Microsoft Office applications via the cloud based Office 365, including applications like PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Outlook, Publisher, OneNote, Access and Lync. You can find out more about this program from the link given below.
Go to Microsoft Student Advantage
