I can be wrong, but my search inside more than 70 shops resulted 70 times in “no, we do not have…”
Does someone knows a place where I could find an English version of MS office?
Regards
You could try Open Office for the time being:
openoffice.org/
You might have to one shipped to you. All I use is Open Office though, and it gets the job done for me 
.
This IS Taiwan, I’m afraid. Having bought 2 laptop computers in the last 2 years, I have also heard the usual “Uhhh…we don’t have MS Office”.
Hmmm. Why would that be, one wonders… 
When pushed further, the response is usually “See if your friend can help you.” They do actually stop short of saying “Get your friend to pirate it for you the way we all do”. I guess that would make them complicit, and who knows, you may just be an undercover cop. 
Anyway, I was fortunate in that I use my laptop for work, so it was legally possible for me to have the company install it for me.
I guess the only help I can offer is to suggest that “Perhaps your friend can help you.” 
Just go to FNAC, for example, and ask for it, and when they tell you that they don’t have it, ask them to order it for you, and then you’ll have it in a couple of days. It works, I’ve tried it. It’s expensive, though. Like in well over NT$10,000 for the professional version.
If you ask anyone in the Guanghua area, they will tell you that it takes two weeks to order it, because they don’t want the hassle.
[quote=“Her Husband”]Just go to FNAC, for example, and ask for it, and when they tell you that they don’t have it, ask them to order it for you, and then you’ll have it in a couple of days. It works, I’ve tried it. It’s expensive, though. Like in well over NT$10,000 for the professional version.
If you ask anyone in the Guanghua area, they will tell you that it takes two weeks to order it, because they don’t want the hassle.[/quote]
FNAC did not work. Price was only 5.390, but probably wrong, so they never called me back.
Ghughua indeed was not working, 15.000 and more, but …yep 2 weeks to order…
Got a tip from a 3C shop ; MITPC shop in Ghunghu is an official Micorsoft dealer, and has English versions.
Asked 7.500 nt for probaly a MS 2003 version.
Can order very fast all other MS applications or software in English.
Tel : 02 2395 1665 0r mob 09 30 701 701.
Worth trying.
That’s strange. I have bought English Office at FNAC. Maybe it depends on who you talk to, some of their staff are less service-minded than others.
The 5,390 isn’t necessarily wrong, but it probably isn’t the full version. That’s about what you would pay for the sui2ji1ban3 of Office, the version that comes bundled with computers in the West. Here in Taiwan, some retailers break it out of the package and sell it for about that price. That version does not have Power Point or Access, though.
I bought the full version because I need PP for my translation work. NT$15,000 is the Professional version of 2003, and I think the home/standard whatever-they-call-it-version is somewhere below 10,000, maybe the 8,000 you were quoted.
[quote=“ceevee369”]
MITPC shop in Ghunghu is an official Micorsoft dealer[/quote]
Come to think of it, so is FNAC at Asia World (Dunhua-Nanjing intersection). The reason I went there was because when I called MS customer service here in Taipei to ask where to go (after having done what you did, visiting umpteen shops without finding it), MS gave me a list of official MS dealers, and that list was headed by FNAC. So they should not only be able to get it for you, but they should have to do so, that’s why they were appointed an official dealer by MS.
[quote=“miltownkid”]You could try Open Office for the time being:
openoffice.org/
You might have to one shipped to you. All I use is Open Office though, and it gets the job done for me 
.[/quote]
Just GREAT tip from Miltownkid. 
Openoffice is as good as MS Office as I tried a few things.
No No, no can do this time Mr. Gates :raspberry:
[quote=“ceevee369”]Just GREAT tip from Miltownkid.
Openoffice is as good as MS Office as I tried a few things.
No No, no can do this time Mr. Gates :raspberry:[/quote]
Yeah, I don’t do any serious editing and it MORE than gets the job done for me. I decided not to put a pirated copy of MS Office on my machine the lst time I formatted it and have been using OO ever since.
For people who just need to write papers and stuff I think it’s perfect. There are also people that use it professionally, but it can be combersome when you need to exchange a lot of documents with people that do use MS Office (that’s what I hear anyway).
Hopefully that will change in the future. It’s pretty stupid that something as simple as a text document doesn’t have a standard format. A freaking text file! 
[quote=“miltownkid”][quote=“ceevee369”]Just GREAT tip from Miltownkid.
Openoffice is as good as MS Office as I tried a few things.
No No, no can do this time Mr. Gates :raspberry:[/quote]
Yeah, I don’t do any serious editing and it MORE than gets the job done for me. I decided not to put a pirated copy of MS Office on my machine the lst time I formatted it and have been using OO ever since.
For people who just need to write papers and stuff I think it’s perfect. There are also people that use it professionally, but it can be combersome when you need to exchange a lot of documents with people that do use MS Office (that’s what I hear anyway).
Hopefully that will change in the future. It’s pretty stupid that something as simple as a text document doesn’t have a standard format. A freaking text file! [/quote]My father’s wife is a professional translator and she found that Open Office documents that she sent to clients would not always turn out right when they opened them in Microsoft Office. Since then she has bought MS Office and has had no more compatibility problems.
I am deeply in need of a copy of Microsoft Office. Does anyone have a copy I could us for a small fee? Is it possible to find somewhere on the internet? I have looked around but had difficulties here in Taipei. I have also tried Open Office but there seems to be problems on the receiving end of these documents. Thanks in advance!
Not to be disrepectfull , thus in an open economy model, I also would suggest to look at a legimit OEM version which can be purchased on the B1 basement IT Shopping mall, corner of Bade and Xinsheng. If I remember correctly, the wife paid around 4K for a pro version with Outlook and Access…
And no, I will not borrow software - not even for a small fee - sorry for this if you feel :raspberry:
For about 4K you can get the home/student version. I got one in a shop at the computer market area. It’s not hard to find. Just ask.
I downloaded/purchased an English version from the microsoft website. MS now goes with an outside vendor, but it should still work.
Buy it online:
buy.trymicrosoftoffice.com/buytw … LT2XcAAAAH
You can choose between English and Chinese version. You can also buy the language pack for a second (or third language), not sure how useful that is though
They also offer a trial version.
Might want to hold back on that Office 2007 purchase given that 2010 is just scant months away
Beta test Office 2010 Professional:
microsoft.com/office/2010/en … fault.aspx
Beta test Office Starter 2010:
(Office Starter is the ad-supported replacement for Microsoft Works)
connect.microsoft.com/office
FNAC, Costco… both had it in stock at one point. I think I may have seen it at larger stores of Carrefour in Taipei.
The local computer shop where I buy most of my work stuff can order it in a few days… and it’s no hassle.
If you do regular purchasing through one store, they won’t usually mind doing that for you. Problem is so many local shoppers are solely focused on saving the last dollar possible that many smaller dealers won’t go through a lot of hassle because of penny pinching customers who only buy one item there.
But FNAC, like most 3C stores, has variably helpful/unhelpful staff who can’t tell the difference between a Ps3, a netbook and a camera. Really. If you aren’t able to order something there from the first counter staff, just ask someone who’s worked there for more than five minutes.
Kenneth
that is sooooo true. I made 5 attempts in 2006 to order a MS OFF UK version in Fayaque Xinyi, and finally gave up…buying it cheaper OEM in GongHuan
Fnac is good to spot new things. You don’t buy there unless you’re a tourist, newbee in town, utter tutter rich or lazy 
Damned, there are really people who buy this stuff!