In article ,
Tushar Mehta wrote:

But for all those so convinced that MS doesn't make Office available
for download, this is a change worth noting. Apparently, MS has
decided, with 2003, to make a trial version available for download.
AFAIK, that is a significant departure from the past.

MacOffice has had a TestDrive version for several years now (starting
with Office v.X and continuing with Office 2004). It's a 30 day trial,
and it doesn't print (but does print preview).

And, once the trial version concept takes root, how much longer can it
be before one can make a phone call (or visit a website), charge $abc
to a credit card, and get an 'activation' code?

With MacOffice TestDrive, IIRC, the software is permanently crippled
(e.g., the print code is not included), so that a full version has to be
installed from CD. I'd expect that to be the model for future versions -
but of course, MacOffice doesn't have Activation, so I don't know if
that would make a difference.