Found this at Dell. It says it's 'Free' but I got charged a penny. I think it's supposed to be w/the purchase of a Dell computer. But it works fine without it. I've already gotten my confirmation email and setup email.
Microsoft® Office Live is an online service offering easy-to-use Web site design and maintenance tools that enable you to take your small business online.
Microsoft Office Live Small Business – Your Web presence, made easy with FREE:
Business domain name registration 500 MB of storage 25 Company-branded e-mail accounts Instant messaging Ability to purchase keywords and promote your business Access with Windows powered mobile phones Site reports and design tools Select Microsoft Office Live Small Business on your system configurator now for FREE! Manufacturer Part# : VBADCC Dell Part# : A0954428
Highlights Pricing, specifications, availability and terms of offers may change without notice, are not transferable and are valid only for new purchases from Dell Small Business for delivery in the 50 United States. Taxes, fees, shipping, handling and any applicable restocking charges extra, vary, and are not subject to discount. The Small Business site and offers contained herein valid only for end users and not for resellers and/or online auctions. Dell cannot be responsible for pricing or other errors, omissions, or consequences of misuse of site and its functions and reserves the right to cancel orders arising from such errors. Offers not necessarily combinable. Discounts cannot be retroactively applied. Orders subject to cancellation by Dell. Software & Accessories and Printers, Displays & Electronics offers do not apply to Recommended Solutions systems in the online system configuration pages (including PowerConnect switches); you must purchase eligible items through the separate Software & Accessories and Printers, Displays & Electronics online stores. Limit 5 systems and 5 discounted or promotional products per customer. In case of customers leasing under this promotion, please note that items leased will be subject to applicable end of lease options or requirements. All sales are subject to Dell's Terms and Conditions of Sale located at http://www.Dell.com/terms unless you have a separate agreement with Dell.
M$ offers Office Live Basics for free, but it appears to be pretty much the same setup, not sure what is different in the Small Business Package.
This works for me, even though it is free from M$, you have to put in a credit card for verification when you sign up. They only allow you to sign up one free site per CC. For .01 and via PayPal, you just found exactly what I needed.
For those that don't know, they don't allow you to upload your own html, it's all .asp, but it is a free domain, free hosting, and enough tricks on the web to add cart/checkout, or pretty much anything else you want to do.
Disturbed13 said: For those that don't know, they don't allow you to upload your own html, it's all .asp, but it is a free domain, free hosting, and enough tricks on the web to add cart/checkout, or pretty much anything else you want to do.But MS does let you use "restricted"/limited HTML to edit the "templates" that they provide.
SteveHebe
Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 9:08a
I got this office live deal back in 2006 and besides a free domain name, it was teriible.
Email accounts are not POP3 you can't use Outlook or Thunderbird, etc. It's glorified hotmail.
explorerx said: So anyone see any difference between this and MS free offer?
If I recall correctly, when I tried the free offer through MS shortly after it started, they wanted a valid (no 111) CC # and did not have the Paypal option. For a penny I like the PP option.
I had it too. After a year they automatically renewed the service. It took weeks for me to finally cancel this thing. After your free year is up and they start charging you, canceling the service is like trying to get gum off the bottom of your shoe.
cherryvista
New Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 10:33a
How can they charge renewal fee after 1 year. The Faq clearly states that customers will not be charged for a renewal fee after 1 year.
2Cheap4Retail said: I had it too. After a year they automatically renewed the service. It took weeks for me to finally cancel this thing. After your free year is up and they start charging you, canceling the service is like trying to get gum off the bottom of your shoe.
this isn't a free year. basic live is free period. I have no idea what you're talking about, but it surely isn't this deal.
whoever said no access through outlook is incorrect.
you download an add on for outlook and boom it's right there in your inbox.
onionstink
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 12:33p
fayswrtt said: 2Cheap4Retail said: I had it too. After a year they automatically renewed the service. It took weeks for me to finally cancel this thing. After your free year is up and they start charging you, canceling the service is like trying to get gum off the bottom of your shoe.
this isn't a free year. basic live is free period. I have no idea what you're talking about, but it surely isn't this deal.
Well.... I signed up for "free" office live about a year ago. A couple of months ago I started getting a bill for next year. It's not been a year yet but I'm keeping an eye on my CC to see if they charge me. Make sure you use a VCC when you sign up.
i didn't use anything to sign up, unless you count Dell PA - they cant charge that a year can they?
drcameron
Thrifty Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 12:56p
onionstink said: Well.... I signed up for "free" office live about a year ago. A couple of months ago I started getting a bill for next year. It's not been a year yet but I'm keeping an eye on my CC to see if they charge me. Make sure you use a VCC when you sign up.
I signed up about 15 months ago and mine is still free. Are you sure you haven't added any extra features or exceeded your bandwidth allotment?
rseiler
Ancient Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 12:56p
j3ffrey said: whoever said no access through outlook is incorrect.
you download an add on for outlook and boom it's right there in your inbox.
Right, that's the Outlook Connector, but I think that's similar to what's built-in to Outlook for paid Hotmail accounts (it does more than that, but I'm just interested in its mail features): you can access via Outlook your Hotmail, but you're dealing with the remote Inbox, etc. I'm not aware that there's a way to make it work like POP3 where it polls the server and downloads mail locally. I'm aware that you can manually drag it down from the server, but that's a chore.
rseiler
Ancient Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 12:58p
cherryvista said: It's free already. why pay 1C ??. Is this any different from what Microsoft offers directly ??
rseiler said: j3ffrey said: whoever said no access through outlook is incorrect.
you download an add on for outlook and boom it's right there in your inbox.
Right, that's the Outlook Connector, but I think that's similar to what's built-in to Outlook for paid Hotmail accounts (it does more than that, but I'm just interested in its mail features): you can access via Outlook your Hotmail, but you're dealing with the remote Inbox, etc. I'm not aware that there's a way to make it work like POP3 where it polls the server and downloads mail locally. I'm aware that you can manually drag it down from the server, but that's a chore.
Even with Outlook Connector... isn't that only for Paid Office Live account (i.e. it doesn't work with Office Live Basics?) Does it work with Office Live SB?
explorerx
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 1:01p
anybody who uses it find it useful? or it's another MS crap offer?
rseiler
Ancient Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 1:11p
Deets said: Even with Outlook Connector... isn't that only for Paid Office Live account (i.e. it doesn't work with Office Live Basics?) Does it work with Office Live SB?
Outlook Connector works with all Windows Live Hotmail accounts regardless of how you came about them. A couple of the features (e.g. calendar) are reserved for paying members.
Sorry to bug you all but this does not work with a Mac. Is anyone aware of a similar free hosting with domain name that I can use without a windows machine?
onionstink
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 6, 2008 @ 1:54p
mctc said: Sorry to bug you all but this does not work with a Mac. Is anyone aware of a similar free hosting with domain name that I can use without a windows machine?
Ah... what? Ah.... you're a Mac user. That explains it. It doesn't matter if you use Windows, Linux or even OS X. You can still host something on the web using someone else's hosting service.
rseiler said: Deets said: Even with Outlook Connector... isn't that only for Paid Office Live account (i.e. it doesn't work with Office Live Basics?) Does it work with Office Live SB?
Outlook Connector works with all Windows Live Hotmail accounts regardless of how you came about them. A couple of the features (e.g. calendar) are reserved for paying members.
Anyone know of anything I can use in Thunderbird to check this email as well? I'm going to guess no.. but worth a shot.
EDIT: I actually ended up finding it on my own. There's an extension/add-on called WebMail. If you use the Hotmail extension for it, you can add your new domain name to it's supported list and get your email from it!
1. Follow all the directions and install for Hotmail: Text
2. Go to options for the Hotmail addon and add your new domain name to the supported list.
3. Set up your account as you normally would. Works like a charm!
Just a marketing tool for Microsoft. There is no "small business" version per se. It is the free "basic" or the pay versions called "essentials" or "premium."
That is not what it says when I go to the links posted by avgary. The Office live basics page will not load and says:
To use Microsoft Office Live, your computer must meet one of the following requirements:
* Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or later, running on Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows Server 2003. You can download the latest version of Internet Explorer from the Windows Internet Explorer page.
This is why you're getting charged. According to the TOS:
Why do you need my credit card for a free subscription?
Even though Microsoft Office Live Basics is a free service and Microsoft Office Live Collaboration is free during the beta period, we still require a credit card in order to validate that every customer is a legitimate entity. We are concerned for two reasons:
Microsoft wants to help mitigate fraud and strives to ensure that the Web sites we provide for our small business customers are for valid purposes. Requiring a valid credit card is intended to decrease the likelihood that malicious users will sign up.
We also require a credit card to facilitate payment of additional services (e.g., the purchase of additional domain names or extra storage) as well as at the conclusion of the Microsoft Office Live Collaboration Beta period, when customers will be asked if they would like to continue using our services on a paid, monthly subscription basis. With your explicit permission, we can establish monthly billing using your credit card information. You will be able to continue using our services without interruption and without having to submit additional account information.
When you sign up for a Microsoft Office Live account, Microsoft performs a $1 authorization check on your credit card to verify that the card information you are using is valid and up to date. A temporary $1 charge may appear on your online credit card statement for a short period, but will not appear on your final billing statement for that period.
Toddler said: The Dell site will let you purchase 5 at a time. For a nickel, I'm willing to gamble. I'd like to amend my earlier remarks and say that this was a waste of a nickel.
PurpleWhat
Member
posted: Jan. 8, 2008 @ 5:16a
Basic won't even let you use FrontPage. Now if I could use basic for just email and host my domain elsewhere .. now that would be cool
$20.00 a month for essentials is not cool.. Damn Microsoft !!!
aoi9
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 12, 2008 @ 10:24p
We are unable to complete signing up for Microsoft Office Live at this time. Please click the Back button and try again later.
That would explain why the page reloaded every time i checked domain availability.
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