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  #1  
Old 05-23-2020, 07:44 AM
Clairvaux Clairvaux is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2003
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Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ?
 
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Default Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ?

I have been using a Home & Student version of Office 2003 since pretty much its inception. I'm in the process of learning its advanced features for the first time.



While I would love to benefit from the more beautiful interface of current versions, and (presumably) added features, I don't see how I would cope with the inescapable ribbon (and the suppression of some useful features, as far as I understand). I also cannot afford the current prices, nor do I accept the subscription or online model. And I'm on Windows 7, so the 2019 edition is out of reach anyway.

My edition is in the French language. While I live here and most of my documents are in French (not all), I prefer my software to have an English interface, because most of the help available is in English.

Even when my edition of Office was supported, it could not be switched to an English-language interface, because it is a Home & Student version. I would have needed the Professional version (or something like that).

So I am wondering whether I could buy a second-hand copy of Office 2003 with the following characteristics :
  • Has (or can switch to) an English interface.
  • Can handle documents and other items (date format, currency...) in French.
  • Belongs to the business category, so that it has Access and Outlook, and possibly other programs. I don't think One Note was bundled with Office 2003, but my edition only has Word, Excel and Outlook. I don't care for Powerpoint.
  • Can activate.
  • Can be uninstalled, then reinstalled on another computer.
  • Being able to be installed on a desktop and a laptop would be a plus, but I don't currently need it.
  • Would not die on me later down the road, because it would not be able to activate anymore.
Many thanks.
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Old 05-23-2020, 03:53 PM
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macropod macropod is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2010 32bit
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You might find someone selling it via eBay, etc. Any legitimate version should accommodate all your activation/installation issues.

That said, Office 2003 hasn't been supported since April 2014. Running it on any current system may therefore expose that system to security vulnerabilities had had not been recognised way back then. Office 2003 also does not support any of the functionality that has been introduced since then.
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Old 05-23-2020, 04:15 PM
Clairvaux Clairvaux is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2003
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Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ?
 
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Really ? That's great news. Any idea what the name should be for the sub-version (not the appropriate name), in order to accommodate multi-language ? Would that be Professional ?

When I researched the issue long ago (2003 was still supported at that time), I think there was some sort of Microsoft add-in that had to be applied in order to allow one to work with the English interface, while everything else being adapted to another country.

Of course, I suppose this piece of software would have disappeared long ago from Microsoft's site. Or do I remember wrongly, and that multi-language capability was embedded in some of the 2003 versions ?

I'm aware of the security risks, but I never get any malware, I have my backups, and the benefits far outweigh the possible problems.
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Old 05-23-2020, 04:20 PM
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macropod macropod is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2010 32bit
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You would probably need to purchase Office 2003 Professional, and perhaps install whatever language pack you might require. For the latter, see: Microsoft Office 2003 Language Pack - Free downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com
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Old 05-24-2020, 07:17 AM
Clairvaux Clairvaux is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2003
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Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ?
 
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I have not been able to find a download link, there.

However, it reminded me how the language pack works. Please correct me if I'm wrong :
  • The language pack changes the language of the interface (and this is only possible on the Professional version).
  • Since I only have a Home & Student version, I could try and buy a French, Professional Office 2003, and then apply the language pack (assuming it may still be found somewhere).
  • However, since what I want is really the English-language interface, I could try and buy an English Professional Office 2003, at which point I would not need the language pack to make it compatible with a French keyboard, French accented letters, French date format and so on.
Did I get this right ?

You mentioned the extra features which were introduced since Office 2003. How significant are they ?

I have occasionally stumbled on the mention of some features which were taken away post-2003 (not counting the classical menus, and extreme customization possibilities). But I'm not aware of the balance.

How important is the net benefit for someone who is not interested in collaborative features or cloud computing ?
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Old 05-25-2020, 07:41 PM
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macropod macropod is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2010 32bit
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I haven't used the Language Packs, so I can't tell you much about how they work. The Microsoft Office 2003 Language Interface Pack listed in the previous link allows you to use Office features in a different language. When you change your language preferences via that, you get a translated user interface.

As for features introduced since Word 2003, that Word 2003 and earlier don't support, these include:
• Files in the docx & docm formats (though a compatibility pack was produced to overcome that - see: Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint File Formats - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com
• Content Controls (a replacement for formfields that doesn't require 'filling in forms' protection to work);
• Citation & Bibliography referencing; and
• the ability to restrict which Styles can be used in a document.
Content Controls and citation & bibliography references get converted to text when a docx/docm file is opened in Office 2003.

Other than support for document versions, I'm not aware of any functionality that has been lost with Office 2007 & later.
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  #7  
Old 05-26-2020, 08:39 AM
Clairvaux Clairvaux is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2003
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Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ?
 
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Thank you for taking care to answer, Paul.

At this point, if someone could confirm that an English-language version of Office 2003 can manage foreign locales off-the-shelf (setup of keyboard, etc.), this would seem as the safer bet.

Did you manage to find a download link here ?

Microsoft Office 2003 Language Pack - Free downloads and reviews - CNET Download.com

I could not.

I do have the .docx conversion utility, and it works, but there's always a slight delay each time I open a .docx file, so I've reverted to .doc, despite all the (theoretical) advantages of the new format.

The lost features post-2003 are things I saw mentioned by advanced users / expert writers shortly after the transition. So this could have been corrected down the line. It was mostly small things, but this accumulation of small things is what makes the difference between Microsoft's Office, and other similar suites.

As for the other, larger innovations introduced, I find it striking that 17 years of development by the mightiest desktop software house on the planet produced only that. That, and the ribbon, an interface "innovation" hated by so many, that it's hard to understand why Microsoft did not offer an opt-out later down the line.
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Old 05-26-2020, 02:43 PM
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macropod macropod is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2010 32bit
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I didn't check the page the CNET link goes to. Having done so, it seems the download is no longer available there. A web search for:
+"Microsoft Office 2003 Language Pack" download
turns up other possible download sites, though.
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  #9  
Old 05-26-2020, 02:44 PM
Clairvaux Clairvaux is offline Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Windows 7 64bit Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ? Office 2003
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Can Office 2003 be bought second-hand nowadays, with multi-language capability ?
 
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That's good to know.
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