Explore Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student

Written by: John Garger • Edited by: Michele McDonough
Published Mar 10, 2010 • Related Guides: Microsoft Office 2010 | Excel | Microsoft Office 2007

Due for release in June of this year, Office 2010 Home and Student is destined to once again be the most popular edition of Microsoft’s new productivity software. Read a review of Office 2010 Home and Student and see if this is the edition for you.

The Home and Student edition of Microsoft Office is by far the most popular edition of the software giant’s suite of productivity software. Not surprisingly, the Home and Student edition of Office is the perfect choice for student, educators, and home and home office users.

Due for release in June of 2010, Office 2010 will be available in four editions of which Home and Student is only one. Shipping with the core applications of Office 2010, Home and Student is priced to appeal to its intended audience. Read a review of Office 2010 Home and Student and learn about its applications, features, and pricing.

Applications Included in Office 2010 Home and Student

Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student Box Art

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The Home and Student edition of Office 2010 contains the core Office 2010 applications and few extras. As the most popular edition of Office, Home and Student ships with:

Word 2010
Excel 2010
PowerPoint 2010
OneNote 2010

Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are well known applications to students and home users but OneNote is a Microsoft program that hasn’t quite found its place as a common application for these users. If you do buy the Home and Student edition, give OneNote a try. You may be pleasantly surprised at how simple yet power this application can be.

Office 2010 Home and Student Pricing

Unless you qualify for the Academic edition, Home and Student is the cheapest way to purchase Office 2010. No doubt, this is why Home and Student is the best selling edition.

The retail price of Home and Student is just $149 but if you buy a new PC with an Office 2010 trial pre-installed, you can save some money and buy a Product Key Card for just $119 to unlock the full Home and Student edition. If you are thinking of buying a new PC, hold off and see if your new computer comes pre-installed with an Office 2010 trial. You may be able to save some money over buying the boxed, retail version.

Office 2010 Ribbon Interface

If you skipped over Office 2007, you will have an initial steep learning curve as you adapt to the Office Ribbon. Introduced in Office 2007, the Ribbon completely replaces the familiar drop-down menu style of application navigation so prominent in previous releases of Office.

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There have been some changes to the Ribbon since Office 2007 such that even those familiar with it will need to learn a new trick or two. A few of the functions on the Ribbon have been moved and the Orb found in the upper left hand corner has been replaced with a more subtle interface icon. Generally, however, the more experience you have with the previous Ribbon interface, the less time it will take you to adapt to the Ribbon in Office 2010.

Conclusion

Microsoft’s most popular edition of its productivity software, Office 2010 Home and Student offers the core applications at a great price. Home and Student includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and even ships with OneNote, a powerful yet underappreciated application.

If you are unfamiliar with Office 2007, you will have to overcome an initial learning curve as you adapt to the Ribbon interface. Otherwise, you should be able to jump right in and intuitively start using the applications included in Office 2010 Home and Student.